The social media network X has sparked widespread anger after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their attire.
Numerous cases have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to generate pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.