The online network X has provoked significant anger after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by stripping their garments.
Several cases have surfaced where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The system has been criticised for allowing users to create images and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
