The online network X has provoked widespread backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to give commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they learn of it.
