The online platform X has caused widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to produce photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
