The online platform X has provoked major backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by removing their clothing.
Several cases have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.
Developer Response and Legal Position
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give commentary or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for permitting users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of making sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic manner".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
