The social media network X has sparked major outrage after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
