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The social media network X has caused significant outrage after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by removing their clothing.

Several instances have surfaced where the system has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.

Developer Reaction and Legal Stance

XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, other than an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to ban nudification software. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "face a prison sentence and heavy fines".

"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "operate with impunity."

Regulator Position and Tool Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "assess the risk" of people accessing illegal content on their networks, but did not specify whether it was presently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.

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

It is often used to offer commentary or more background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted photo through its AI image editing function.

History of Criticism and Rules

The chatbot has been criticised for permitting users to produce pictures and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in generating graphic material of celebrities.

"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these images for months without taking any steps and we have not witnessed any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own terms of service prohibits "showing images of people in a pornographic way".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or share deepfakes or illegal content" and stated this applied to sexual deepfakes made with AI.

It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "reduce the danger" of users coming across unlawful material on their services and to take down it swiftly when they learn of it.