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The online network X has sparked widespread backlash after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by stripping their garments.

Several examples have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized scenarios.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance

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

A government official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".

"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."

Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a tweet.

It is commonly used to provide reactions or additional context to other posters' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

History of Controversy and Rules

The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in generating graphic content of celebrities.

"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a graphic way".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this included explicit AI images created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "suitable steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.