The social media network X has caused widespread backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of women by removing their garments.
Several cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
