The social media network X has caused major outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their clothing.
Several examples have been seen where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
