The social media network X has provoked significant anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Numerous examples have emerged where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
