The online network X has sparked significant outrage after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to give commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to produce pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting images of people in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
