The social media platform X has caused major outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their garments.
Several examples have emerged where the technology has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for allowing users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of persons in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
