The online network X has provoked widespread anger after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their attire.
Several instances have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of making inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
