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The online platform X has sparked significant outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their clothing.

Numerous cases have been seen where the tool has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexually explicit situations.

Developer Response and Legal Position

XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to questions, except for an standard response stating "legacy media lies".

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

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

Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a tweet.

It is frequently used to give reactions or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.

History of Controversy and Rules

The system has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of public figures.

"X has been allowing the production and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own usage rules bans "showing likenesses of persons in a graphic manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.

It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.