Elon Musk's social media network X has caused widespread outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people seeing illegal content 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 chatbot—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for allowing users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
