The online network X has sparked widespread anger after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their clothing.
Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Policy
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to take down it promptly when they are notified of it.
