The online network X has sparked major anger after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their attire.
Numerous cases have emerged where the system has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized contexts.
Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping software. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' queries when they mention it in a post.
It is frequently used to provide commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said networks such as X were mandated to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.
