The social media network X has provoked significant outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their garments.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
