The online platform X has sparked widespread anger after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by removing their attire.
Multiple examples have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting images of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
