The social media network X has provoked significant outrage after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by taking off their clothing.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting images of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
