UK Prime Minister says ‘we will take action’ on Grok’s disgusting deepfakes

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the country will take action against X following reports that the platform’s Grok AI chatbot is generating sexualized deepfakes of adults and minors, as reported earlier by The Telegraph and Sky News.

”It’s disgusting,” Starmer says during an interview with Greatest Hits Radio. “X need[s] to get their act together and get this material down. And we will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.”

Last month, X launched a feature that allows people to use Grok to edit any image on the platform without permission. The rollout resulted in a flood of AI deepfakes undressing women and, in some instances, children. “We’re not going to tolerate it,” Starmer adds. “I’ve asked for all options to be on the table.”

If the UK bans X, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) says she will “move forward with legislation that is currently being drafted” to sanction Starmer and the UK, calling the prime minister’s threats a “political war” against X owner Elon Musk and “free speech.”

The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, began investigating whether X is in violation of the country’s Online Safety Act last week, which holds online platforms accountable for hosting harmful content, Politico reported. “Based on their response we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation,” An Ofcom spokesperson told Politico at the time.

When reached for comment, X pointed The Verge to a January 3rd statement that says, “anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”

Update, January 9th: Added responses from Rep. Luna and X.