The social media platform X has caused significant outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium features—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 users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
