Elon Musk's social media network X has sparked widespread outrage after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their attire.
Numerous cases have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.
