The online platform X has caused significant backlash after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple cases have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' prompts when they tag 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 alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
