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The online network X has caused major backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by stripping their clothing.

Multiple examples have been seen where the system has been used to digitally undress women to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.

Company Reaction and Legal Stance

XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, aside from an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".

A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and significant fines".

"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."

Regulator Position and Platform Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence images.

Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.

It is commonly used to provide reactions or additional background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.

History of Criticism and Policy

The system has been faulted for permitting users to generate pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously accused of generating inappropriate material of public figures.

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

XAI's own terms of service bans "showing likenesses of people in a pornographic fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images generated with AI.

It said networks such as X were obligated to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.