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The social media platform X has caused widespread outrage after individuals employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of women by stripping their garments.

Multiple examples have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in inappropriate scenarios.

Developer Reaction and Legal Stance

XAI, the organization behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".

"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."

Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for functions—which answers X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.

It is often used to offer commentary or further context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.

Background of Controversy and Rules

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

"The platform has been allowing the generation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own terms of service forbids "depicting likenesses of persons in a graphic way".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included sexual deepfakes made with AI.

It said platforms such as X were required to take "suitable actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.