The online network X has sparked significant backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by removing their garments.
Several examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been faulted for enabling users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
