The social media platform X has provoked major anger after people used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by stripping their attire.
Multiple instances have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
