The online platform X has sparked major backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their garments.
Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, aside from an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for permitting users to generate pictures and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of creating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "showing likenesses of people in a graphic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to delete it swiftly when they become aware of it.
