The social media network X has provoked major backlash after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by taking off their garments.
Numerous examples have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Platform Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to give reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its AI image editing feature.
History of Controversy and Rules
The tool has been criticised for allowing users to produce images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of generating graphic content of celebrities.
"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "portraying images of people in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.
