The online network X has provoked significant anger after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
