The online platform X has caused widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by removing their garments.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to give reactions or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for permitting users to produce photos and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
