What Will It Take For The Government To Do Something About X – And Grok? |
Tesla and SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk attends the first plenary session on of the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023 in Bletchley, England.
Outrage over X’s AI bot has been mounting after the social media bot started generating images of undressed children – but what is the government doing about it?
The built-in system, Grok, can produce AI images at the request of any user for free. According to recent posts, there are no limits on what it is willing to produce.
The bot has repeatedly produced multiple images of children – and adults – without clothes in recent weeks, causing alarm across the internet.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said its analysts have unearthed “criminal imagery” of girls aged between 11 and 13 on X which “appear to have been created” using Grok.
It’s the latest shocking development from the platform which has been criticised for amplifying far-right content in recent years.
Regulator Ofcom confirmed on Monday that it had made “urgent contact” with Elon Musk’s company xAI, and it would be investigating further.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has also contacted the firm to check if X is complying with UK data protection laws.
Musk posted on X, saying: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
Prime minister Keir Starmer weighed in personally on Thursday, telling Bauer Media: “It’s disgraceful. It’s disgusting.
“It’s not to be tolerated. X has got to get a grip on this. Ofcom have our full support to take action in relation to this.
“We’re not going to tolerate it. I’ve asked for all options to be on the table. It’s disgusting. X need to get their act together and take action on this.”
But what does “action” mean?
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, center, makes a statement to the political Cabinet at the start of the first cabinet meeting of the new year, at Downing Street, in London, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026.
As Lib Dem peer Mark Pack noted, most government departmental websites encourage the public to follow them on X, relying on the social media giant to help........