The social media platform X has sparked significant anger after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple cases have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for permitting users to create pictures and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
