The online network X has sparked major outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of women by stripping their clothing.
Several cases have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to give commentary or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to create pictures and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
