The online platform X has sparked widespread anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of women by taking off their clothing.
Several examples have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of creating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
