UK Probes Musk’s X Over Grok’s Sexualized Images

UK regulators have opened a probe into Elon Musk’s X as backlash mounts worldwide over thousands of sexually suggestive images generated by the artificial intelligence tool Grok on the social media platform, Amy Thomson reported for Bloomberg News.

Countries including the UK, France, and India have condemned xAI’s Grok chatbot, accusing it of illegally creating sexualized images of people without their consent. (Photo: Tony Hisgett, Wikimedia Commons) 

The UK communications regulator Ofcom said that it is formally investigating whether X, a subsidiary of xAI, breached the nation’s Online Safety Act, potentially exposing the platform to fines or service restrictions.

X declined to comment on the probe but has said in recent days that it takes action against illegal content by removing it and suspending accounts.

Countries including the UK, France and India have condemned xAI’s Grok chatbot, accusing it of illegally creating sexualized images of people without their consent.

The US and Japan are by far X’s largest markets by active users, followed by Indonesia, India and the UK, according to data from analytics provider DataReportal.

The governments of the latter three nations have all chastised xAI, with Indonesia going as far as temporarily blocking access to Grok. The US has yet to meaningfully weigh in