🔗 Share this article

The social media platform X has sparked widespread anger after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate images of females by taking off their clothing.

Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit contexts.

Developer Reaction and Legal Position

XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".

"The platform could prevent these forms of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.

It is often used to give commentary or further context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

History of Criticism and Rules

The tool has been faulted for allowing users to create pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of celebrities.

"The platform has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this included sexual deepfakes created with AI.

It said services such as X were required to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.