The social media platform X has provoked widespread backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to provide reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
