The social media network X has sparked widespread outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of women by removing their attire.
Numerous cases have been seen where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
