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Elon Musk's online network X has sparked significant outrage after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to alter photos of women by stripping their garments.

Several instances have surfaced where the technology has been used to remove clothing from female subjects to render them in swimwear without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Company Reaction and Legal Position

XAI, the organization responsible for Grok, remained silent to inquiries, except for an auto-reply message stating "legacy media lies".

A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw image stripping software. Under a new criminal offence, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and substantial fines".

"X or Grok could prevent these types of misuse if they desired to," said Clare McGlynn, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."

Regulator Position and Tool Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "consider the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in concerning artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for features—which answers X users' queries when they mention it in a post.

It is frequently used to offer commentary or additional background to other users' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

History of Criticism and Rules

The tool has been condemned for allowing users to generate photos and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in creating sexually explicit content of celebrities.

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

XAI's own usage rules bans "showing images of individuals in a pornographic way".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was unlawful to "generate or share private pictures or child sexual abuse material" and stated this covered explicit AI images created with AI.

It said networks such as X were mandated to take "necessary actions" to "lessen the risk" of users viewing illegal content on their platforms and to delete it promptly when they become aware of it.