Elon Musk's social media network X has caused widespread backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by taking off their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
