The online network X has provoked significant outrage after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of women by taking off their garments.
Several examples have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying images of people in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
