The online network X has provoked major outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple cases have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to offer commentary or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "depicting images of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.
