Elon Musk's online network X has caused major outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple cases have been seen where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
