The online network X has provoked major anger after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to give reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "depicting likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
