The online network X has sparked significant outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by removing their attire.
Several cases have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to create images and footage with explicit content and sexualised 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 pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
