The online platform X has provoked significant anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Several cases have emerged where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
