The social media platform X has caused major outrage after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by removing their attire.
Multiple cases have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy fines".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create images and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of making sexually explicit material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
