The online network X has provoked major anger after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by stripping their garments.
Several examples have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been faulted for allowing users to produce pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting images of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
