The online platform X has caused major anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their attire.
Several examples have surfaced where the system has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Company Response and Legal Position
XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and significant fines".
"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.
Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to offer reactions or more context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to generate photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying images of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
