The social media platform X has sparked widespread backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter images of women by removing their attire.
Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to generate photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of generating inappropriate material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said services such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
