The online platform X has caused widespread anger after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by taking off their clothing.
Several cases have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to produce pictures and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of making graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
