The online platform X has provoked widespread outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
