Elon Musk's social media platform X has provoked significant backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their garments.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to ban nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to produce pictures and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of generating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
