The online network X has provoked significant outrage after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their attire.
Numerous cases have emerged where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for enabling users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting images of persons in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they are notified of it.