The online platform X has caused major outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create images and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of making graphic content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.
