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The online network X has provoked major backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by removing their attire.

Several examples have been seen where the technology has been used to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear non-consensually, as well as to place them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Company Response and Legal Position

XAI, the company responsible for Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".

A government official stated that legislation is being proposed to outlaw nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a prison sentence and significant penalties".

"The platform could prevent these types of abuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Regulator Stance and Platform Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but did not confirm whether it was presently investigating X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.

Grok is a free chatbot—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a post.

It is often used to provide commentary or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also capable of edit an posted image through its artificial intelligence picture modification function.

History of Criticism and Policy

The tool has been criticised for allowing users to create pictures and videos with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in generating inappropriate material of public figures.

"X has been enabling the creation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have yet to see any challenge by oversight bodies," the expert added.

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

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or circulate private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this applied to sexual deepfakes created with AI.

It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate measures" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their services and to take down it swiftly when they are notified of it.