The social media network X has sparked significant anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for allowing users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
