The online network X has caused significant outrage after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Several examples have surfaced where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for enabling users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
