The social media network X has provoked widespread backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
