The social media network X has sparked major anger after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.