Elon Musk's online network X has provoked major outrage after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their clothing.
Several cases have emerged where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to provide commentary or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
