The online network X has sparked widespread outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by removing their attire.
Several examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they learn of it.
