Elon Musk’s X slapped down by UK over ‘appalling’ AI content material
Elon Musk’s X has been slapped down by the UK’s Technology Secretary Liz Kendall amid “absolutely appalling” deepfakes sexualising kids appearing on the platform
Elon Musk’s X has been slapped down by the UK’s Technology Secretary amid “absolutely appalling” deepfakes sexualising kids appearing on the platform.
Liz Kendall sent a strong warning to the tech billionaire that “the UK will not tolerate the endless proliferation of disgusting and abusive material online”.
She called on Musk’s social media firm to deal with this “urgently” and gave Ofcom her full backing to take any necessary enforcement action against X or xAI.
Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, yesterday said it has made “urgent contact” with Musk’s X and xAI over “serious concerns” its AI tool, Grok, has made sexualised images of kids on the platform. It said it was aware of a feature on Grok, a chatbot developed by xAI, that creates undressed images of people and sexualised images of children.
READ MORE: Ofcom in urgent talks with X over claims AI tool Grok generates ‘undressed’ images of children
Users on X have been asking Grok to take real images of people and put them in swimwear or “minimal clothing”. Kate Middleton is among high profile individuals understood to have been targeted.
Today, Ms Kendall said: “What we have been seeing online in recent days has been absolutely appalling, and unacceptable in decent society. No one should have to go through the ordeal of seeing intimate deepfakes of themselves online.
“We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these demeaning and degrading images, which are disproportionately aimed at women and girls.
“X needs to deal with this urgently. It is absolutely right that Ofcom is looking into this as a matter of urgency and it has my full backing to take any enforcement action it deems necessary. Services and operators have a clear obligation to act appropriately. This is not about restricting freedom of speech but upholding the law.
“Make no mistake – the UK will not tolerate the endless proliferation of disgusting and abusive material online. We must all come together to stamp it out.”
The Cabinet said intimate image abuse and cyberflashing, including those generated by AI, are priority offences under the Online Safety Act.
This means platforms must prevent such content from appearing online and act swiftly to remove it if it does.
Ms Kendall added that the government has also legislated to ban the creation of explicit deepfakes without consent, which are both “degrading and harmful”.
A post on Grok’s X account on Friday admitted the company has “identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them—CSAM (child sexual abuse material) is illegal and prohibited”. On Saturday, Musk said: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
An Ofcom spokesman said yesterday: “Tackling illegal online harm and protecting children remain urgent priorities for Ofcom. We are aware of serious concerns raised about a feature on Grok on X that produces undressed images of people and sexualised images of children.
“We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK. Based on their response we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation.”
It is illegal to create or share non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, including sexual deepfakes created with AI. Individuals who commit criminal offences online can face prosecution by law enforcement.
Under the Online Safety Act, tech firms must assess the risk of people in the UK encountering illegal content on their platforms, take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of UK users encountering it, and take it down quickly when they become aware of it.
