Elon Musk's social media platform X has caused major backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by stripping their garments.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium functions—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to generate images and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
