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The online platform X has sparked widespread outrage after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to change photos of women by stripping their clothing.

Several instances have emerged where the tool has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.

Company Response and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office official stated that legislation is being introduced to prohibit nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy fines".

"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of abuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."

Regulator Stance and Platform Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.

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

It is commonly used to give reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded image through its AI image editing function.

History of Controversy and Policy

The system has been condemned for enabling users to create photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.

"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of persons in a graphic way".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.

It said networks such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to remove it swiftly when they become aware of it.