The online platform X has caused major outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been faulted for enabling users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
