The social media platform X has provoked major outrage after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by stripping their clothing.
Several instances have surfaced where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for enabling users to generate pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
