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The online network X has caused major outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their garments.

Numerous instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexualized scenarios.

Company Reaction and Legal Stance

XAI, the company that created Grok, did not respond to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".

A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who provided such tools would "face a prison sentence and substantial penalties".

"The platform could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "seem to have impunity."

Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities

The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was at this time examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium functions—which answers X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.

It is often used to provide commentary or additional background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to alter an posted picture through its AI image editing feature.

History of Criticism and Policy

The tool has been faulted for permitting users to create photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.

"The platform has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have not seen any action by regulators," the expert added.

XAI's own usage rules bans "depicting images of people in a pornographic way".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes generated with AI.

It said networks such as X were obligated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the danger" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they learn of it.