The social media network X has provoked significant backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for allowing users to produce images and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
