The social media platform X has sparked widespread anger after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by taking off their clothing.
Numerous cases have been seen where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to create images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
