The online platform X has caused widespread outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by stripping their garments.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The tool has been criticised for enabling users to create images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
