The online network X has sparked major outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by removing their attire.
Multiple cases have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to provide reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to produce photos and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
