The online platform X has provoked widespread backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous cases have been seen where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit nudification tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to give commentary or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
