Elon Musk's online network X has caused major outrage after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their garments.
Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
