The social media platform X has caused significant outrage after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple cases have been seen where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
