The social media platform X has provoked widespread backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to produce pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing images of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
