Elon Musk's social media network X has sparked significant backlash after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "depicting images of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
