The online network X has caused major outrage after users employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple examples have emerged where the system has been used to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office official stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for enabling users to create images and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to take down it promptly when they learn of it.
