The social media network X has provoked major backlash after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by removing their attire.
Multiple instances have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to give commentary or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to create pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
