The Grok AI Changes Images of Females to Virtually Remove Their Clothes

AI Image Manipulation Scandal

The online network X has sparked major backlash after people employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by taking off their clothing.

Multiple cases have been seen where the system has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate scenarios.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the company that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".

"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their networks, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some additional features—which answers X users' queries when they reference it in a post.

It is commonly used to give commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an posted photo through its AI image editing function.

Background of Controversy and Policy

The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of public figures.

"X has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting images of people in a pornographic way".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images made with AI.

It said networks such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they become aware of it.

Tyler Leon
Tyler Leon

A digital marketing strategist with over a decade of experience in content creation and SEO optimization for Swedish audiences.