The online network X has provoked significant backlash after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple examples have emerged where the system has been used to digitally undress women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to generate pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of generating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "showing likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
