The social media platform X has caused widespread outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for permitting users to produce images and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
