The online network X has provoked major anger after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying images of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they are notified of it.
