The online platform X has caused significant outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of females by removing their garments.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been employed to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
