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Elon Musk's online network X has caused major outrage after individuals used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of women by removing their garments.

Numerous instances have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip women to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to place them in inappropriate situations.

Company Response and Legal Position

XAI, the company behind Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, aside from an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping tools. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who distributed such tools would "be subject to a prison sentence and heavy fines".

"The platform has the ability to stop these types of misuse if they wanted to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with a lack of consequences."

Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the danger" of people viewing unlawful material on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in concerning AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a free AI assistant—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they mention it in a message.

It is commonly used to offer reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also capable of alter an posted image through its AI image editing function.

History of Criticism and Rules

The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to generate images and footage with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of celebrities.

"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these pictures for months without taking any steps and we have yet to see any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own terms of service bans "portraying likenesses of people in a sexually explicit manner".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this covered explicit AI images made with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate steps" to "minimize the danger" of users viewing illegal material on their platforms and to delete it swiftly when they learn of it.