The online platform X has sparked significant anger after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of women by taking off their attire.
Multiple instances have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to give commentary or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been faulted for allowing users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting likenesses of people in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
