Elon Musk's social media platform X has provoked widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple instances have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of generating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
