The online platform X has caused widespread anger after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing images of people in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
