The social media platform X has sparked major backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for 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 upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of people in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
