The online platform X has provoked major outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of females by stripping their garments.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to give commentary or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action 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 sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
