The social media network X has sparked widespread backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their attire.
Several cases have surfaced where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to give commentary or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
