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Elon Musk's online network X has caused significant backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by removing their clothing.

Several instances have surfaced where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in swimwear without consent, as well as to put them in inappropriate situations.

Company Response and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the firm that created Grok, offered no comment to inquiries, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "receive a jail term and significant penalties".

"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Oversight Body Stance and Tool Capabilities

The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "consider the risk" of people seeing illegal content on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some additional functions—which reacts to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.

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

History of Criticism and Policy

The tool has been faulted for allowing users to create photos and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive material, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic content of celebrities.

"The platform has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by regulators," the expert added.

XAI's own terms of service forbids "portraying likenesses of people in a graphic way".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and clarified this covered sexual deepfakes made with AI.

It said services such as X were mandated to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the risk" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.