The online platform X has caused widespread anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to create images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of creating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.
