The social media platform X has caused major backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by taking off their attire.
Multiple instances have been seen where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to produce photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of persons in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they learn of it.
