The social media network X has caused major anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by taking off their attire.
Multiple instances have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
