Britain launches investigation into X for explicit deepfakes by Grok

Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The British government on Monday launched an investigation into X after its artificial intelligence tool, Grok, was found to be creating sexualized images of women and girls without their consent. Britain's Ofcom, its communications services regulator, announced Monday that it would officially investigate X and whether the company has made appropriate changes for users in the United Kingdom. If the agency finds that the company has broken British law, it can impose fines of up to $24 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. In the most serious case, it can get a court order to block the site in the U.K. entirely. Last week, the government highlighted cases of women being digitally undressed or put into sexualized situations by Grok and the photos being distributed on X. There were also cases of young girls being undressed, creating child sexual abuse material. On Friday, Grok began only allowing paid subscribers to use its image generation and alteration tools. On Jan. 3, X's safety account announced: "We take action against illegal content on X, including CSAM, by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary." "Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," the account said. X and xAI owner Elon Musk said the British government wanted "any excuse for censorship" in response to a post asking why other AI platforms were not being investigated, the BBC reported . British Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told the BBC she welcomed the investigation. "It is vital that Ofcom complete this investigation swiftly because the public -- and most importantly the victims -- will not accept any delay," she said. Her predecessor Peter Kyle said, "The fact that I met just yesterday a Jewish woman who has found her image of herself in a bikini outside of Auschwitz being generated by AI and put online made me feel sick to my stomach." "And the fact that there are people who are running and designing these materials, putting it out on to the internet without checking the impact it would have on their customers and their service users and to society as a whole, I think is a real worry," Kyle added. An Ofcom spokesperson said the investigation would be a "matter of the highest priority." "Platforms must protect people in the U.K. from content that's illegal in the U.K.," the spokesperson said. "We won't hesitate to investigate where we suspect companies are failing in their duties, especially where there's a risk of harm to children." Malaysia and Indonesia temporarily blocked access to X over the weekend. Malaysia said that responses from Musk "failed to address the inherent risks posed by the design and operation of the AI tool" and relied on users to report abuses. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said it "considers this insufficient to prevent harm or ensure legal compliance." Indonesia Minister of Communications and...

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