Britain on Tuesday urged Elon Musk's social media site X to urgently address a proliferation of intimate 'deepfake' images on its network, joining a European outcry over a surge in non-consensual imagery on the platform.
The comments follow reporting, including from Reuters, that X's built-in AI chatbot, Grok, was unleashing a flood of on-demand images of women and minors in extremely skimpy clothing.
Technology minister Liz Kendall said in a statement that the content was "absolutely appalling" and called on the platform to act swiftly.
"No one should have to go through the ordeal of seeing intimate deepfakes of themselves online," Kendall said. "We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these demeaning and degrading images, which are disproportionately aimed at women and girls."
"X needs to deal with this urgently," she added.
International response to Grok's content
Government ministers in France have reported Grok's content to prosecutors, saying in a statement on Friday that the "sexual and sexist" content was "manifestly illegal." They said they also reported the content to the French media regulator, Arcom, to determine whether it complied with the European Union's Digital Services Act.
India's IT ministry, meanwhile, told X's India unit in a letter that the platform failed to prevent the misuse of Grok to generate and circulate obscene and sexually explicit content of women. It ordered X to submit an action-taken report within three days.
When contacted by Reuters for comment via email, an xAI representative replied, "Legacy Media Lies."