The online network X has caused major backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their garments.
Several instances have emerged where the system has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and sharing of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
