The online network X has sparked significant outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
