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The online platform X has sparked significant outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their garments.

Multiple examples have been seen where the tool has been used to virtually strip female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Position

XAI, the firm behind Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office official stated that new laws is being brought forward to ban image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term 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."

Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities

The communications watchdog Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the risk" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.

Grok is a free AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a tweet.

It is commonly used to give commentary or more background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.

Background of Controversy and Policy

The system has been condemned for permitting users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of celebrities.

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

XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of persons in a sexually explicit way".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users encountering illegal content on their platforms and to delete it quickly when they are notified of it.