The online platform X has sparked major outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change images of females by removing their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to give reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying images of people in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
