The online network X has sparked major backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by stripping their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing images of people in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
