The social media network X has provoked widespread anger after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their attire.
Numerous instances have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create photos and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit material of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying images of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
