The online platform X has caused widespread outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for enabling users to create images and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
