The social media network X has provoked major anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their garments.
Several cases have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to offer commentary or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.
