The online network X has sparked major outrage after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, 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, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to ban nudification technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to produce pictures and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "showing images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
