Elon Musk's online network X has caused widespread outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by taking off their attire.
Numerous examples have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of making inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
