The social media network X has sparked widespread outrage after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their garments.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to produce photos and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
