The online platform X has sparked major backlash after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to generate photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
