The online network X has provoked major anger after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by removing their garments.
Multiple cases have been seen where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
