The online platform X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by taking off their garments.
Several instances have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
