The online network X has caused major anger after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by removing their clothing.
Numerous cases have surfaced where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Response and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to generate images and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
