The social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, may face a ban in the UK due to controversy over its AI chatbot Grok. This follows its widespread use for generating sexually explicit images involving women and children.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer labeled the incident disgraceful and unacceptable, emphasizing that such content is intolerable. He stated that the platform must be accountable, urging that action be taken, and affirmed the government’s full support for media regulator Ofcom in this regard.
“It’s disgraceful, it’s disgusting, and it’s not to be tolerated. X has got to get a grip on this, and Ofcom has our complete backing to act,” he told Greatest Hits Radio, adding, “This is wrong, it’s unlawful, we won’t stand for it. I’ve requested that all options be considered. We will take action because this is simply intolerable.”
Ofcom has confirmed it reached out urgently to X, the parent company of Grok and xAI, which is currently looking into the situation.
Sources from 10 Downing Street informed The Telegraph that the government might employ the full extent of the Online Safety Act. This legislation empowers regulators to impose huge fines potentially costing billions of pounds on tech firms that fail to eliminate illegal and harmful content.
Grok was utilized to create images depicting women and children in states of undress, including sexualized poses or in bikinis. These photos gained attention after a UK internet watchdog discovered some AI-generated images on a dark web forum.
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Users were seen urging Grok to alter photographs into sexually compromising images that were subsequently shared without consent.
AI Forensics, a nonprofit organization, conducted an investigation into Grok’s generated images and found that 20,000 images were produced within just one week between December 25 and January 1. Approximately 2% of these images depicted individuals who seemed to be 18 years old or younger.
Additionally, around 30 images featured young or very young women or girls in bikinis or sheer clothing.
Last year, UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told Members of Parliament that current online safety laws in the UK do not adequately address generative AI chatbots like Grok that can produce images, text, or videos. She mentioned that the government was contemplating whether new legislation was necessary to regulate these AI tools.
Kendall this week demanded urgent action from X to tackle the issue, calling it extremely serious.
“We refuse to accept this degrading and harmful behavior, which is why we have introduced legislation to prohibit their creation without consent,” stated the Ministry of Justice.
The platform has approximately 650 million users worldwide, with about 20 million users in the UK. X faces bans in several countries, including China, Turkmenistan, Iran, Brazil, North Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Venezuela.
