The online platform X has sparked widespread anger after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by removing their clothing.
Several cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of individuals in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
