The social media network X has provoked significant outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for allowing users to create images and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
