The social media platform X has caused major anger after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by stripping their clothing.
Multiple cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the production and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing images of people in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
