The online network X has caused widespread backlash after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by taking off their attire.
Numerous examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to offer reactions or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The system has been condemned for allowing users to create pictures and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the production and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
