Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked major outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous instances have emerged where the system has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of generating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they are notified of it.
