Elon Musk's online network X has provoked significant backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of women by stripping their attire.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
