Elon Musk’s social media platform X is under fire after its AI chatbot Grok was found to have generated sexualised deepfake images, including of children, prompting urgent calls from the government
Elon Musk’s social media chatbot Grok is under fire after it was found to have generated sexualised deepfake images, prompting urgent calls from the UK government.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said Musk’s soical media platform X must urgently deal with Grok being used to create sexualised deepfake images.
She backed regulator Ofcom, which has asked X and xAI to set out the steps it is taking to comply with legal obligations to protect UK users of the social media platform.
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.”
A recent post on the Grok X account said that there have been “isolated cases where users prompted for and received AI images depicting minors in minimal clothing”, and added: “xAI has safeguards, but improvements are ongoing to block such requests entirely.”
As a result, Ofcom has reportedly said it has contacted X and xAI to understand what steps have been taken to address this, but has not launched an investigation.
A spokesperson for the regulator said: “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.” Under the Online Safety Act in the UK, social media firms must prevent and remove child sexual abuse material when they become aware of it.
After a request for comment, xAI replied with an automatically-generated email saying “legacy media lies”. Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) chief executive Kerry Smith said: “The IWF has received a number of reports from the public relating to suspected child sexual abuse imagery on X generated by the AI chatbot Grok.
“We are still working through these reports but, so far, we have not seen any imagery which crosses the legal threshold for being considered child sexual abuse in the UK.” She urged the Government to require AI firms to build safety measures into their products to prevent harmful content.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are legislating to ban nudification tools in all their forms, including the use of AI models for this purpose. Intimate image abuse is a devastating crime which disproportionately affects women and girls.
“Under this new criminal offence, any individuals or companies who design or supply these nudification tools will face a prison sentence and substantial fines.”
In the face of calls for the Government to curb its use of the controversial app, Labour frontbencher Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent reportedly said the site had millions of British consumers and it was important to engage with them, particularly given the prevalence of disinformation. The Jewish former MP highlighted her own experience on the social media platform, where she was subjected to a torrent of antisemitic abuse, including death threats.
Lady Anderson was speaking as the media watchdog Ofcom said it had made “urgent contact” with X, after users appeared to have prompted its built-in AI chatbot Grok to generate photos of undressed people. Speaking in Parliament, Lady Anderson said government-paid advertising on X had been suspended since April 2023 and it was only used for posting content free of charge.
But pressing the front bench, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Pack said: “I am sure that the minister has seen the recent reports of X generating on-request sexualised images of people without their consent, including of children, yet the Government repeatedly prioritises the use of X. To give just one example, the Home Office’s public social media policy encourages the use of X by promising to read all messages sent to it via that platform, a promise that is not made about any other social media network.
“Is it not the time for the Government to stop prioritising and promoting the use of X ahead of other social media network platforms?” Lady Anderson said: “I genuinely do not agree that we prioritise the use of X, but 19.2 million British citizens use X.
“It is incredibly important, in an age of misinformation and disinformation, that facts are available on the platforms people are using, as opposed to the platforms we wish people were using, which is why the Government will continue to post organic content on X.” Liberal Democrat Lord Clement-Jones said: “In the Government’s welcome recently published strategy to reduce violence against women and children, they promise a whole-of-government approach.
“Yet… they are prioritising X as a platform in their communications. Is not this the perfect opportunity for the Government to demonstrate that they mean what they say?
“X is publishing sexualised images without consent on its platform, so why are the Government not responding by reducing their dependence on X?” Lady Anderson said: “Not only are 19.2 million British citizens registered with X, but 10.8 million families use X as their main news source.
“That is more than any other social platform, which I find genuinely extraordinary. We would be doing a disservice by removing government communications from X when that is where people are actually accessing them.
“We are making sure that facts are available.” Leading lawyer and independent crossbencher Lord Pannick said: “The minister’s argument in relation to X appears to be that it may be obnoxious, but other people use it so the Government must too.
“Is it not sometimes appropriate for the Government to take a position, adopt a principle and do what they think is right?”
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