The social media network X has provoked widespread backlash after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by removing their attire.
Numerous cases have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium functions—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give commentary or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for allowing users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it quickly when they become aware of it.
