The online platform X has caused widespread backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for permitting users to generate photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of making graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
