The online platform X has caused significant outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by taking off their clothing.
Several examples have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of making graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
