The social media network X has caused significant outrage after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by stripping their attire.
Several instances have been seen where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
