Elon Musk's online network X has provoked major outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by taking off their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the system has been employed to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
