The social media network X has sparked widespread outrage after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of females by removing their clothing.
Multiple instances have been seen where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to give reactions or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to create images and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
