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Elon Musk's online platform X has caused widespread outrage after individuals used its AI chatbot Grok to change images of women by taking off their garments.

Several instances have surfaced where the tool has been used to digitally undress women to show them in swimwear without consent, as well as to insert them in sexualized situations.

Developer Reaction and Regulatory Stance

XAI, the firm that created Grok, remained silent to requests for comment, except for an automatically-generated message stating "legacy media lies".

A government spokesperson stated that new laws is being introduced to outlaw nudification software. Under a upcoming law, anyone who distributed such technology would "be subject to a prison sentence and substantial penalties".

"The platform is capable of halting these forms of misuse if they wanted to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."

Regulator Position and Platform Functionality

The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people accessing unlawful material on their services, but did not specify whether it was currently examining X or Grok in regarding AI-generated images.

Grok is a free artificial intelligence—with some paid-for functions—which responds to X users' requests when they tag it in a post.

It is often used to give commentary or more background to other users' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an posted photo through its AI image editing function.

Background of Criticism and Rules

The tool has been faulted for enabling users to generate photos and videos with nudity and sexually suggestive content, and it was earlier alleged to have been involved in making inappropriate content of public figures.

"The platform has been enabling the generation and sharing of these images for months without taking any measures and we have not seen any action by regulators," Professor McGlynn added.

XAI's own terms of service bans "depicting likenesses of persons in a sexually explicit manner".

In a statement, Ofcom said it was against the law to "make or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material" and confirmed this included explicit AI images made with AI.

It said services such as X were mandated to take "suitable measures" to "lessen the risk" of users encountering unlawful material on their services and to delete it promptly when they are notified of it.