The online platform X has caused major outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the risk" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
