The online network X has sparked widespread outrage after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by stripping their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to give commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of making graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of people in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
