The online network X has sparked widespread backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of women by removing their clothing.
Several instances have been seen where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized contexts.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to ban image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded image through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of making inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
