The social media platform X has provoked major backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized contexts.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer commentary or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to create images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation 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 terms of service bans "portraying images of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
