The social media network X has caused major outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple examples have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to create images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
