The online network X has provoked major backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by removing their attire.
Multiple instances have emerged where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to ban nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to produce photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
