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The social media platform X has sparked major backlash after users used its artificial intelligence assistant Grok to change pictures of women by taking off their clothing.

Multiple examples have surfaced where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in sexually explicit situations.

Developer Reaction and Regulatory Position

XAI, the organization that created Grok, did not respond to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "legacy media lies".

A government official stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a new law, anyone who supplied such technology would "face a jail term and substantial penalties".

"The platform has the ability to stop these types of abuse if they chose to," said a law professor, adding they "seem to have a lack of consequences."

Regulator Stance and Tool Capabilities

The regulator Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the danger" of people accessing unlawful material on their platforms, but did not confirm whether it was at this time investigating X or Grok in relation to artificial intelligence pictures.

Grok is a no-cost artificial intelligence—with some premium functions—which responds to X users' requests when they mention it in a tweet.

It is often used to provide reactions or further background to other posters' comments, but people on X are also can modify an uploaded image through its artificial intelligence picture modification tool.

Background of Controversy and Policy

The system has been condemned for allowing users to produce photos and clips with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier accused of making graphic content of celebrities.

"The platform has been allowing the creation and spread of these pictures for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "showing images of persons in a pornographic fashion".

In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "generate or circulate non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and stated this included explicit AI images generated with AI.

It said platforms such as X were required to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the danger" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to remove it promptly when they are notified of it.