The online network X has caused widespread outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Multiple examples have been seen where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for enabling users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying images of people in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
