The online network X has provoked significant anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by taking off their garments.
Several cases have surfaced where the technology has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which answers X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to provide reactions or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to produce pictures and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of making graphic content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the production and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
