The online platform X has sparked widespread outrage after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by taking off their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to give reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "showing images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
