Elon Musk's social media network X has provoked major outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by removing their attire.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to generate pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying images of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
