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The social media platform X has caused significant outrage after people used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of women by removing their clothing.

Multiple instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.

Developer Response and Regulatory Position

XAI, the organization behind Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".

A government representative stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and substantial fines".

"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."

Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.

Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they tag it in a message.

It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.

History of Controversy and Rules

The chatbot has been condemned for enabling users to generate images and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of public figures.

"The platform has been allowing the creation and sharing of these images for months without taking any action and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "reduce the risk" of users viewing illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.