The online platform X has provoked significant backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by taking off their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to give commentary or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and distribution of these images 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 individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
