The social media platform X has caused widespread anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to create pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting images of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
