The social media network X has provoked major backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by taking off their clothing.
Numerous cases have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying images of individuals in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
