Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked widespread backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to give commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of people in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
