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Elon Musk's online network X has provoked widespread anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by taking off their attire.

Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been employed to digitally undress women to make them appear in bikinis non-consensually, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Position

XAI, the organization behind Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an standard message stating "legacy media lies".

A government representative stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit nudification technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".

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

Oversight Body Position and Tool Capabilities

The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.

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

It is frequently used to offer reactions or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

History of Controversy and Rules

The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce photos and videos with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate material of public figures.

"X has been permitting the production and distribution of these pictures for months without taking any action and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own terms of service bans "showing images of people in a graphic fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.

It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.