Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked significant backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to give commentary or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
