The social media network X has caused widespread anger after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have emerged where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to generate pictures and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing likenesses of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
