The online network X has caused major backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by taking off their garments.
Multiple cases have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification tools. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to generate images and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting 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 pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.
