The online platform X has caused major backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their attire.
Numerous examples have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been faulted for permitting users to produce pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
