The online platform X has provoked major outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to produce pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
