The social media network X has caused significant outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple cases have been seen where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the generation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
