The online platform X has provoked widespread backlash after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
