The online network X has provoked significant backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by removing their attire.
Several instances have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to give commentary or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for enabling users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
