The online platform X has sparked major backlash after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change images of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which responds to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to give commentary or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of making inappropriate content of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it swiftly when they learn of it.
