The social media platform X has caused major backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of women by taking off their garments.
Multiple cases have emerged where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Company Reaction and Legal Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.
Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The system has been criticised for allowing users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously accused of generating sexually explicit content of public figures.
"X has been permitting the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying images of persons in a graphic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said networks such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.
