The online network X has provoked major backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their garments.
Several instances have been seen where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for allowing users to produce images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
