The online platform X has sparked significant outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by removing their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing images of persons in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
