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The online network X has sparked major outrage after individuals utilized its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to manipulate pictures of females by removing their garments.

Numerous instances have surfaced where the tool has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to make them appear in bikinis without consent, as well as to put them in sexualized situations.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Position

XAI, the company responsible for Grok, did not respond to questions, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".

A government official stated that legislation is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a proposed criminal offence, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a jail term and heavy penalties".

"X or Grok is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."

Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said technology companies must "consider the risk" of people seeing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently looking into X or Grok in regarding artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some additional features—which responds to X users' queries when they reference it in a tweet.

It is often used to give commentary or more context to other users' remarks, but people on X are also able to modify an uploaded picture through its AI image editing tool.

Background of Criticism and Policy

The tool has been faulted for enabling users to produce photos and videos with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was in the past accused of generating sexually explicit material of public figures.

"The platform has been allowing the generation and sharing of these pictures for a long time without taking any measures and we have not witnessed any challenge by oversight bodies," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own terms of service prohibits "portraying images of people in a graphic fashion".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or share non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this covered sexual deepfakes generated with AI.

It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary steps" to "minimize the risk" of users viewing unlawful content on their services and to take down it promptly when they become aware of it.