The online platform X has sparked significant backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by stripping their garments.
Several instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to create pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
