The online platform X has sparked major outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by removing their garments.
Several examples have emerged where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of making sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.
