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The online platform X has provoked widespread anger after people used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate photos of females by removing their attire.

Multiple instances have been seen where the system has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Company Reaction and Legal Position

XAI, the company behind Grok, remained silent to questions, aside from an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant fines".

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

Oversight Body Stance and Platform Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently looking into X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence images.

Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' prompts when they mention it in a post.

It is often used to offer reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

History of Controversy and Policy

The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to create photos and clips with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously accused of generating graphic content of celebrities.

"X has been permitting the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any measures and we have not seen any challenge by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

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

In a statement, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.

It said services such as X were obligated to take "necessary actions" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they become aware of it.