The online platform X has sparked major outrage after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by removing their garments.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for permitting users to create images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of creating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting images of people in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.
