The online platform X has caused widespread anger after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple examples have emerged where the system has been used to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which responds to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is commonly used to give reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been faulted for allowing users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
