🔗 Share this article

The online platform X has sparked major anger after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by removing their clothing.

Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Developer Response and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".

"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."

Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a post.

It is often used to offer commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.

History of Criticism and Rules

The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to produce photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of celebrities.

"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," the expert added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing likenesses of people in a graphic manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute 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 mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.