The social media platform X has caused major backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous instances have emerged where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
