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The online platform X has provoked major anger after individuals employed its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate images of females by stripping their garments.

Multiple examples have been seen where the technology has been employed to virtually strip female subjects to show them in bikinis without consent, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Developer Reaction and Legal Stance

XAI, the firm behind Grok, offered no comment to requests for comment, except for an standard response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being brought forward to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a upcoming criminal offence, anyone who supplied such tools would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".

"X or Grok is capable of halting these types of misuse if they chose to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "operate with impunity."

Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "assess the potential" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some premium features—which answers X users' requests when they tag it in a post.

It is frequently used to give reactions or additional context to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.

Background of Criticism and Rules

The chatbot has been faulted for allowing users to generate photos and clips with nudity and sexualised content, and it was in the past alleged to have been involved in making sexually explicit content of celebrities.

"X has been enabling the production and distribution of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting images of individuals in a graphic manner".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.

It said networks such as X were required to take "suitable measures" to "reduce the risk" of users encountering unlawful content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.