The online platform X has sparked significant backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by taking off their clothing.
Several cases have been seen where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to give reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
