The online network X has provoked significant anger after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by removing their garments.
Several instances have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give commentary or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to create photos and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
