Elon Musk's online network X has sparked major backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to produce pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
