The social media network X has caused significant backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by stripping their garments.
Multiple cases have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.
