The social media network X has caused major backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to ban image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "depicting images of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
