The online network X has caused widespread outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to generate images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
