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Elon Musk's social media network X has sparked widespread anger after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of females by removing their clothing.

Numerous instances have been seen where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in sexualized situations.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an standard message stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a upcoming law, anyone who provided such tools would "be subject to a jail term and substantial penalties".

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

Oversight Body Stance and Platform Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning AI-generated images.

Grok is a no-cost chatbot—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.

It is commonly used to offer reactions or more context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

History of Controversy and Policy

The system has been faulted for allowing users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexualised content, and it was earlier accused of creating graphic material of celebrities.

"X has been allowing the generation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own usage rules bans "showing likenesses of individuals in a sexually explicit manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "create or circulate private pictures or illegal content" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes created with AI.

It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary measures" to "reduce the danger" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to remove it promptly when they learn of it.