The online network X has caused significant backlash after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
