The online network X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
