The online platform X has sparked major outrage after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous instances have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to give commentary or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted image through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for enabling users to create pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.
