The online network X has caused widespread outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by removing their garments.
Several instances have surfaced where the system 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.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to offer commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of generating graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying images of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
