The online network X has provoked widespread anger after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and heavy penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to produce images and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of people in a graphic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
