The online platform X has provoked major outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to produce pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
