Elon Musk's online network X has caused major outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of women by removing their attire.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to generate photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
