The social media network X has sparked widespread backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their attire.
Numerous examples have emerged where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to ban image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to generate pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
