The social media platform X has caused widespread backlash after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to generate photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
