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The online network X has sparked significant anger after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their attire.

Multiple examples have surfaced where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.

Developer Response and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban nudification tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".

"X or Grok has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."

Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a message.

It is often used to give commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.

Background of Criticism and Policy

The chatbot has been condemned for permitting users to create images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit content of celebrities.

"The platform has been allowing the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own usage rules forbids "depicting likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".

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

It said services such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.