The online platform X has caused widespread backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
