Elon Musk's social media network X has caused widespread anger after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by taking off their garments.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for enabling users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
