The social media platform X has caused significant outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple cases have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to create images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "depicting likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
