The online platform X has sparked significant anger after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by taking off their attire.
Several cases have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a message.
It is frequently used to give commentary or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
