The online platform X has caused significant outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of women by stripping their attire.
Several instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give reactions or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
