The social media network X has sparked widespread outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their attire.
Multiple instances have surfaced where the system has been used to digitally undress female subjects to render them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to generate pictures and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the production and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing likenesses of individuals in a graphic fashion".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal content on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.
