The online network X has caused widespread outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple cases have been seen where the technology has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized contexts.
Company Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such tools would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for allowing users to create images and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it quickly when they are notified of it.
