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The online network X has caused major backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate pictures of women by stripping their garments.

Several instances have emerged where the system has been employed to digitally undress women to render them in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in inappropriate situations.

Company Reaction and Legal Position

XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".

A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".

"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.

Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they mention it in a post.

It is frequently used to provide commentary or additional context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.

Background of Controversy and Rules

The system has been condemned for enabling users to produce pictures and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic material of public figures.

"The platform has been enabling the creation and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.

XAI's own usage rules prohibits "depicting likenesses of individuals in a pornographic way".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute private pictures or illegal content" and stated this included explicit AI images made with AI.

It said platforms such as X were mandated to take "appropriate measures" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across illegal material on their services and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.