The online platform X has caused major backlash after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple cases have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which responds to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to offer commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to produce images and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to delete it promptly when they learn of it.
