The social media platform X has provoked widespread backlash after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for allowing users to generate images and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
