Elon Musk's social media network X has provoked major anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the technology has been employed to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to produce pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
