The online network X has provoked significant backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
