The social media network X has sparked significant outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by removing their garments.
Several cases have emerged where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification tools. Under a new 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 types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of creating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
