The online network X has sparked major anger after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their attire.
Multiple instances have emerged where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
