Elon Musk's online network X has provoked major backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their garments.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content 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 premium functions—which answers X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to generate photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying images of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
