Elon Musk's online platform X has caused significant outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous cases have been seen where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
