Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of people in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
