The online network X has provoked major backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by stripping their attire.
Several instances have surfaced where the technology has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of creating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting images of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
