Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked major outrage after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to create pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
