The online platform X has caused significant backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by stripping their garments.
Several instances have surfaced where the technology has been employed to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production 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 usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
