🔗 Share this article

The online network X has provoked major outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of women by removing their clothing.

Numerous instances have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Developer Response and Legal Position

XAI, the firm behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".

"The platform is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a message.

It is commonly used to offer commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

Background of Criticism and Rules

The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to create pictures and clips with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic material of celebrities.

"The platform has been enabling the creation and sharing of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.