Elon Musk's online network X has sparked widespread backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by removing their attire.
Multiple cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of people in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
