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The online platform X has caused widespread backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to change pictures of women by stripping their attire.

Multiple instances have emerged where the tool has been employed to virtually strip women to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.

Developer Response and Regulatory Position

XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply response stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and heavy penalties".

"The platform is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy a lack of consequences."

Regulator Position and Tool Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "consider the risk" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence images.

Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which reacts to X users' requests when they reference it in a message.

It is often used to provide commentary or additional context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.

History of Controversy and Rules

The tool has been condemned for permitting users to produce photos and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was earlier accused of generating sexually explicit content of public figures.

"The platform has been permitting the generation and distribution of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have not seen any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own terms of service forbids "showing images of individuals in a sexually explicit fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "make or distribute private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.

It said services such as X were required to take "appropriate steps" to "lessen the danger" of users coming across illegal content on their services and to delete it promptly when they learn of it.