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The online network X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of females by stripping their attire.

Multiple examples have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Position

XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A government official stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "face a jail term and significant penalties".

"X or Grok could prevent these forms of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."

Regulator Position and Platform Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.

Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.

It is frequently used to give commentary or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can edit an posted picture through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.

Background of Criticism and Policy

The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to produce photos and footage with nudity and sexualised material, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of celebrities.

"The platform has been permitting the production and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own usage rules forbids "showing images of people in a pornographic fashion".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.