The social media network X has sparked major backlash after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by stripping their attire.
Numerous examples have been seen where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for enabling users to create images and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
