The online network X has sparked significant backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous examples have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to give commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to create pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
