The social media network X has provoked major backlash after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to ban image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to give commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
