The social media network X has sparked major backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their clothing.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "portraying images of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
