Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant backlash after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
