The online network X has caused widespread outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by removing their garments.
Numerous instances have surfaced where the technology has been employed to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "face a jail term and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "portraying likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
