Elon Musk's online network X has caused major outrage after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by removing their attire.
Multiple examples have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
