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The online network X has provoked major outrage after people utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of females by stripping their garments.

Numerous instances have surfaced where the tool has been employed to digitally undress women to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Company Response and Legal Stance

XAI, the firm that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to ban nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and substantial fines".

"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Regulator Position and Platform Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the potential" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was at this time looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some premium features—which answers X users' prompts when they reference it in a post.

It is commonly used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

Background of Controversy and Policy

The chatbot has been criticised for allowing users to generate pictures and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of public figures.

"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "showing images of people in a sexually explicit fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.

It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.