The online platform X has sparked major anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by taking off their attire.
Several instances have emerged where the technology has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
