The social media network X has sparked major anger after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by taking off their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping tools. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to create photos and clips with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting images of persons in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
