The social media network X has sparked widespread anger after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their garments.
Several cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to create pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
