Britain’s media regulator launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X on Monday to determine whether sexually intimate deepfakes produced by its Grok AI chatbot violated its duty to protect people in the UK from content that could be illegal.
“There have been deeply concerning reports of the Grok AI chatbot account on X being used to create and share undressed images of people – which may amount to intimate image abuse or pornography – and sexualised images of children that may amount to child sexual abuse material,” Ofcom said in a statement.
The regulator is under pressure to act after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the images produced by Grok were “disgusting” and “unlawful”.
Musk’s X had to “get a grip” on Grok, Starmer said on Thursday, adding that Ofcom had the government’s full support to take action.
Creating or sharing non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, including AI-generated sexual imagery, is illegal in Britain.
Additionally, tech platforms must prevent British users from encountering illegal content and remove it once they become aware of it.
One such case involves Julie Yukari, a Rio de Janeiro-based musician. After posting a photo of herself in a red dress on New Year’s Eve, she discovered users were prompting Grok to digitally strip her. Grok complied, and near-naked images of her were soon circulating on the platform.