The online network X has sparked major outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by taking off their garments.
Several examples have been seen where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to create images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
