Elon Musk's online platform X has caused widespread backlash after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by removing their garments.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
