The online network X has sparked significant anger after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their attire.
Several instances have emerged where the technology has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of persons in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
