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The online network X has caused widespread outrage after people utilized its AI chatbot Grok to manipulate photos of females by taking off their attire.

Several examples have emerged where the technology has been employed to digitally undress female subjects to render them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an standard response stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to ban image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a jail term and significant fines".

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

Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people seeing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.

It is commonly used to offer reactions or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded photo through its AI image editing feature.

History of Controversy and Policy

The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to produce photos and videos with nudity and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating sexually explicit material of public figures.

"X has been enabling the production and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own usage rules bans "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.