The online platform X has caused significant outrage after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their attire.
Several cases have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.