The online network X has provoked significant anger after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of women by taking off their attire.
Several examples have surfaced where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional context 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 Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit 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 intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
