The online platform X has provoked widespread backlash after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by taking off their attire.
Several examples have been seen where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
