The online platform X has provoked major backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous examples have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
