The social media platform X has sparked major outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their clothing.
Numerous examples have emerged where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.
Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position
XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such tools would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".
"The platform could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."
Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.
It is commonly used to give reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its AI image editing function.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of making graphic material of celebrities.
"X has been permitting the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own usage rules bans "showing likenesses of persons in a pornographic way".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.
