The online network X has caused major outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous examples have emerged where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing images of people in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
