The online network X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous cases have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
