The online platform X has sparked major backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their attire.
Multiple examples have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology 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 a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to generate pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
