The online platform X has sparked widespread outrage after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by stripping their garments.
Several examples have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
