The social media network X has sparked significant outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their attire.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for enabling users to produce pictures and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
