Elon Musk's online network X has sparked major anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by taking off their garments.
Multiple instances have emerged where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to give reactions or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the production and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
