The online platform X has caused major outrage after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous instances have emerged where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to ban image stripping software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to create images and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
