The social media platform X has caused significant outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
