Elon Musk's online network X has caused widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been faulted for allowing users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "showing images of persons in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.
