Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by taking off their attire.
Several instances have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to give commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for enabling users to create photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of making graphic material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
