The social media platform X has sparked significant backlash after users utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by removing their clothing.
Several cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the generation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.
