The online network X has sparked widespread anger after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by taking off their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to produce pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting images of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
