The online network X has sparked significant anger after individuals utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by removing their attire.
Numerous cases have been seen where the system has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to give reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted image through its AI image editing feature.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"X has been allowing the creation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of people in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
