Elon Musk's online platform X has provoked major anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple examples have emerged where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to produce pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they are notified of it.
