The online network X has sparked major outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their garments.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to create pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting images of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
