Elon Musk's online network X has provoked significant backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to ban nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create images and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing likenesses of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
