The online network X has provoked significant anger after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous examples have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for enabling users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of creating sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.
