X to comply with UK law over Grok deepfakes, Starmer says

The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says he has been informed that Elon Musk’s X is “acting to ensure full compliance with UK law” over sexualised deepfakes produced by its AI tool, Grok.

There has been a fierce backlash to the images made using Grok and widely shared on X.

It prompted the regulator Ofcom to launch an investigation on Monday and the government to announce it will enforce a law criminalising the creation of non-consensual deepfakes.

When approached by the BBC, the prime minister’s official spokesman said Sir Keir had not had any contact with X, and was reacting to media reports when he made his comments to MPs.

The Telegraph has reported that Grok has now stopped responding to requests to produce sexualised images of women and girls.

X has not responded to a comment request from the BBC about that report. It is also yet to comment on Sir Keir’s remarks.

It has previously pointed to a statement posted by its Safety account: “Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”

Responding to a question from Labour MP Emily Darlington during prime minister’s questions, Sir Keir repeated his condemnation of Grok as “disgusting” and said Ofcom had ministers’ full backing to act if X did not.

He said: “To update the House, I have been informed this morning that X is acting to ensure full compliance with UK law.

“If so, that is welcome, but we’re not going to back down, and they must act.

“We will take the necessary measures. We will strengthen existing laws and prepare for legislation if it needs to go further, and Ofcom will continue its independent investigation.”

Afterwards, his official spokesman said there had been no contact between Sir Keir and X.

“What the prime minister said in the House is that there has been some indication that X has taken action to address the issues raised,” his official spokesman said.

He added: “If so, that is welcome, so it’s a qualified welcome.”

On Monday, Ofcom said it had launched a formal investigation into X due to “deeply concerning reports” of the chatbot being used to create and share undressed images of people, as well as “sexualised images of children”.

If found to have broken the law, Ofcom can potentially issue X with a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater.

And if X does not comply, Ofcom can seek a court order to force internet service providers to block access to the site in the UK altogether.