The online network X has caused widespread anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of women by stripping their clothing.
Several instances have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to give reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
