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The online platform X has provoked major anger after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by removing their garments.

Several cases have emerged where the technology has been used to virtually strip female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.

Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy penalties".

"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a message.

It is frequently used to offer commentary or further background to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to alter an posted photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.

History of Controversy and Rules

The tool has been condemned for enabling users to create images and videos with nudity and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in making graphic content of public figures.

"X has been allowing the generation and sharing of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any intervention by regulators," the expert added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy bans "showing images of people in a pornographic manner".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this covered explicit AI images made with AI.

It said networks such as X were required to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering illegal material on their services and to delete it quickly when they become aware of it.