The social media network X has provoked significant anger after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" 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 features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to offer commentary or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for allowing users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying likenesses of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
