The online platform X has sparked widespread anger after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their clothing.
Several instances have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to give reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to generate images and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of making sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
