The online network X has caused significant backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous cases have emerged where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to generate pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
