The online platform X has provoked major outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of women by removing their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for allowing users to generate images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
