The online network X has sparked major anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by removing their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to ban nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
