The social media platform X has caused significant backlash after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to generate images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
