Elon Musk's online network X has sparked widespread outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by removing their clothing.
Several instances have emerged where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to give reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to generate photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
