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Elon Musk's social media network X has provoked significant anger after users utilized its AI chatbot Grok to alter photos of women by taking off their garments.

Multiple examples have been seen where the system has been employed to virtually strip women to show them in bikinis without permission, as well as to put them in sexually explicit scenarios.

Company Reaction and Regulatory Position

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

A government spokesperson stated that legislation is being brought forward to outlaw nudification technology. Under a new law, anyone who provided such technology would "face a jail term and heavy penalties".

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

Oversight Body Stance and Tool Functionality

The regulator Ofcom said tech firms must "evaluate the risk" of people viewing illegal content on their services, but stopped short of confirming whether it was currently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.

Grok is a free chatbot—with some premium features—which reacts to X users' prompts when they tag it in a post.

It is commonly used to provide commentary or further background to other posters' remarks, but people on X are also can edit an uploaded photo through its AI image editing tool.

Background of Criticism and Rules

The chatbot has been condemned for allowing users to generate images and footage with explicit content and sexually suggestive material, and it was previously alleged to have been involved in creating graphic material of public figures.

"X has been enabling the generation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any steps and we have yet to see any intervention by oversight bodies," the expert added.

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

In a comment, Ofcom said it was against the law to "generate or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and stated this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.

It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "appropriate actions" to "minimize the risk" of users coming across unlawful material on their platforms and to remove it quickly when they are notified of it.