The online network X has caused widespread outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
