The social media network X has provoked major backlash after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to generate images and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
