The social media network X has sparked major anger after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by removing their garments.
Numerous cases have been seen where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.
