The online network X has sparked significant anger after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their attire.
Multiple cases have emerged where the system has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to give commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been faulted for permitting users to create images and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
