The online network X has sparked major anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to provide reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.
