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The social media network X has caused significant outrage after users used its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their garments.

Several examples have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to show them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to put them in inappropriate contexts.

Developer Response and Legal Position

XAI, the company responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, other than an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being introduced to ban nudification tools. Under a proposed law, anyone who distributed such tools would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".

"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."

Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities

The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.

Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a post.

It is often used to give reactions or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.

History of Controversy and Policy

The system has been criticised for allowing users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.

"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of individuals in a graphic manner".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate deepfakes or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images created with AI.

It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable actions" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful content on their services and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.