The social media platform X has sparked significant backlash after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of females by removing their attire.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for enabling users to generate pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of generating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
