The social media network X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple cases have been seen where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to give commentary or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
