The online network X has sparked widespread backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by taking off their attire.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to give commentary or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
