The social media platform X has sparked widespread outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they are notified of it.
