The online platform X has caused significant outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming 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' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the generation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
