The social media platform X has provoked significant backlash after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of making graphic content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to 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 content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
Maya Chen is a tech journalist and lifestyle blogger with over a decade of experience covering digital trends and cultural shifts.
