The online platform X has provoked significant outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by removing their garments.
Numerous instances have been seen where the system 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 Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "face a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to generate pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing images of individuals in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable steps" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
