The online network X has sparked major anger after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by stripping their clothing.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to give reactions or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.
