The social media network X has caused widespread outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by removing their clothing.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
