The social media platform X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their attire.
Several instances have emerged where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of making inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying likenesses of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
