The online network X has caused major anger after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by removing their attire.
Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to give reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to generate pictures and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "depicting images of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
