The social media platform X has caused major outrage after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Several examples have been seen where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to offer commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
