The social media network X has provoked major backlash after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their clothing.
Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms 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 platforms must "assess the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to give commentary or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said services such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it quickly when they learn of it.
