The online network X has provoked major backlash after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by removing their garments.
Multiple cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban nudification technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for allowing users to generate photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
