The online platform X has provoked widespread anger after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by removing their garments.
Numerous cases have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to produce pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
