The social media platform X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by stripping their attire.
Several instances have emerged where the technology has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of creating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "depicting likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
