The online network X has sparked major anger after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by stripping their attire.
Numerous instances have emerged where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Oversight Body Position and Platform Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.
It is often used to provide commentary or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Controversy and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to create images and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate content of public figures.
"X has been allowing the creation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules prohibits "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and confirmed this included explicit AI images created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
