The online network X has sparked major backlash after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by taking off their attire.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to create pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
