UK urges Musk's X to urgently address intimate 'deepfakes' by Grok

The European Commission stated that the images of undressed women and children being shared on Elon Musk's social media platform, X, were both unlawful and appalling, joining a growing number of global officials condemning the rise in non-consensual imagery on the site.

This condemnation follows reports, including from Reuters, that X's integrated artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, was producing a flood of on-demand images featuring women and minors in revealing clothing, a function X had previously described as "spicy mode."

The European Commission expressed that it was "very aware" of X's "spicy mode," with spokesperson Thomas Regnier telling reporters: "This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting. This is how we see it, and this has no place in Europe."

In the UK, regulator Ofcom demanded on Monday that X explain how Grok was able to generate images of undressed individuals and sexualised images of children, and whether it was failing in its legal obligation to protect users.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the statements from the European Commission or Ofcom. In its previous response to Reuters on the matter, X stated, "Legacy Media Lies." Online, Musk appeared to dismiss concerns over Grok's inappropriate content, posting laughing-so-hard-I'm-crying emojis in response to public figures who had been edited to appear in bikinis.

Ofcom said it was aware of "serious concerns" raised about the feature. "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," said a spokesperson.

In Britain, creating or sharing non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, including AI-generated hyper-realistic sexual content, is illegal. Furthermore, tech platforms are required to take action to prevent British users from encountering illegal content and to remove it once they are made aware of it.

These statements from EU and British officials come after French ministers reported X to prosecutors and regulators over the disturbing images, describing the "sexual and sexist" content as "manifestly illegal." Indian authorities have also demanded explanations from X regarding what they termed as obscene material.

Despite the growing international scrutiny over Grok's production of non-consensual images, U.S. federal authorities, under Musk ally Donald Trump, have yet to address the issue. Requests for comment from the Federal Communications Commission went unanswered, while the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice also did not immediately respond.

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