The social media platform X has sparked major backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple instances have been seen where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create pictures and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of individuals in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
