The online platform X has sparked major outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of women by taking off their attire.
Several instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to give reactions or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
