The online network X has provoked significant outrage after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their attire.
Several instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for enabling users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the production and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
