The online platform X has provoked significant backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give reactions or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been faulted for enabling users to create pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing images of persons in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
