The online platform X has provoked significant backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been employed to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
