The online platform X has caused widespread backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple cases have been seen where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to create images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
