The online network X has provoked major outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create images and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
