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The online network X has sparked widespread anger after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter pictures of women by removing their clothing.

Numerous examples have emerged where the technology has been used to digitally undress female subjects to show them in swimwear without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office representative stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "receive a jail term and significant fines".

"X or Grok has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."

Oversight Body Position and Platform Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not confirm whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.

Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a message.

It is commonly used to offer commentary or more background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an posted picture through its AI image editing function.

Background of Controversy and Rules

The chatbot has been faulted for permitting 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 generating inappropriate content of celebrities.

"X has been enabling the production and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "depicting likenesses of people in a graphic manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "make or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to explicit AI images created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to take down it swiftly when they become aware of it.