The online platform X has sparked widespread outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by taking off their garments.
Several instances have emerged where the system has been employed to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexually explicit contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who supplied such tools would "receive a jail term and significant fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some additional features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a post.
It is often used to offer reactions or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.
History of Controversy and Rules
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create images and clips with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a pornographic way".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they learn of it.
