The online platform X has provoked widespread outrage after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by removing their attire.
Multiple cases have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of generating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
