The online platform X has provoked widespread backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by taking off their garments.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the technology has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to give reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted photo through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to produce pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to delete it promptly when they learn of it.