The online network X has caused major outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
