The social media platform X has caused significant anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Several examples have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit nudification technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to generate images and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
