Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread anger after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by taking off their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to give reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
