The online platform X has sparked widespread anger after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by stripping their garments.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been criticised for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of public figures.
"The platform has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they are notified of it.
