The social media platform X has caused major outrage after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by removing their attire.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "depicting images of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
