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Elon Musk's online network X has caused widespread backlash after users employed its AI chatbot Grok to alter images of females by taking off their garments.

Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been employed to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to insert them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Developer Response and Legal Position

XAI, the firm responsible for Grok, did not respond to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".

A Home Office spokesperson stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit image stripping technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a jail term and heavy penalties".

"X or Grok could prevent these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."

Oversight Body Position and Tool Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said technology companies must "assess the danger" of people viewing illegal content on their platforms, but stopped short of confirming whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to AI-generated pictures.

Grok is a free chatbot—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' queries when they mention it in a message.

It is often used to offer reactions or additional background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can alter an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

Background of Criticism and Policy

The system has been condemned for enabling users to create pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of public figures.

"X has been allowing the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any action by oversight bodies," the expert added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy forbids "portraying likenesses of persons in a pornographic fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate deepfakes or illegal content" and clarified this covered explicit AI images generated with AI.

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