The online platform X has provoked widespread outrage after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their garments.
Several cases have been seen where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' prompts when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to produce images and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.
