The online network X has caused widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying images of people in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
