The social media network X has caused significant anger after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to give commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for enabling users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
