The social media platform X has caused major outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by taking off their clothing.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.