The online network X has sparked major anger after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their attire.
Several examples have been seen where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
