The online network X has provoked widespread anger after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to offer commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for allowing users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting images of individuals 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 confirmed this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
