Elon Musk's social media network X has provoked significant anger after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of women by removing their clothing.
Several cases have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
