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The social media network X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of females by removing their attire.

Multiple instances have been seen where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Developer Response and Legal Position

XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an standard response stating "legacy media lies".

A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a jail term and substantial fines".

"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they reference it in a tweet.

It is often used to give commentary or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also can alter an posted photo through its AI image editing tool.

History of Controversy and Policy

The system has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of making graphic material of celebrities.

"X has been permitting the production and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.

It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.