The online network X has provoked widespread anger after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by taking off their clothing.
Several instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and heavy fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "showing likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
