The online platform X has sparked widespread backlash after people employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change photos of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple instances have emerged where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, aside from an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".
A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant penalties".
"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is frequently used to offer commentary or further context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing function.
History of Criticism and Policy
The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making graphic content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.
