The online platform X has sparked significant backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by removing their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to create photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting images of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
