The online network X has sparked major backlash after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of women by removing their clothing.
Multiple cases have emerged where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit situations.
Company Response and Regulatory Position
XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".
A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a prison sentence and heavy fines".
"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."
Regulator Position and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.
Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' requests when they reference it in a message.
It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.
Background of Controversy and Policy
The system has been faulted for allowing users to produce pictures and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.
"The platform has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.
XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of individuals in a pornographic fashion".
In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.
It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they are notified of it.
