The social media platform X has provoked widespread backlash after people used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Several examples have emerged where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to give commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to produce images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of making inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying images of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.
