The social media platform X has caused widespread outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to offer commentary or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
