The online network X has caused major outrage after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of women by stripping their attire.
Multiple examples have emerged where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give commentary or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting images of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.
