The online platform X has sparked significant backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for allowing users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.