The online network X has caused significant outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by removing their attire.
Several instances have emerged where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of generating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
