The online network X has sparked widespread backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their clothing.
Several instances have emerged where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of generating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
