The social media network X has provoked major backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by stripping their garments.
Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material 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 AI assistant—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to produce photos and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of making graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying images of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
