The social media network X has provoked major anger after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by removing their garments.
Multiple instances have been seen where the tool has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.
Developer Reaction and Legal Stance
XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an auto-reply message stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial fines".
"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities
The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.
It is commonly used to provide reactions or further context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted picture through its AI image editing tool.
Background of Criticism and Policy
The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating inappropriate material of public figures.
"The platform has been allowing the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.
XAI's own usage rules forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.
It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.
