The social media network X has caused major outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple examples have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to produce images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they are notified of it.
