Elon Musk's online platform X has sparked widespread backlash after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to produce photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
