Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked widespread outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to produce pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing images of people in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
