The online network X has provoked major anger after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have emerged where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for permitting users to create pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
