JD Vance believes manipulated images of women and children that are sexualised by the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot are ‘entirely unacceptable’, David Lammy said after meeting the US vice president.
Elon Musk, the boss of Grok’s creator xAI and the X social media platform where images have been shared, has accused the UK Government of being ‘fascist’ and trying to curb free speech after ministers stepped up threats to block his website.
Allies of Donald Trump have also criticised Sir Keir Starmer‘s Government after ministers backed regulator Ofcom to take any action necessary against X.
Ofcom has been in contact with X and xAI over Grok’s manipulation of images to create undressed individuals and sexualised images of children.
The regulator is now carrying out an ‘expedited assessment’ of the firms’ response.
But the Deputy Prime Minister said Mr Vance was sympathetic to the UK’s position on the issue and described the images being produced as ‘hyper-pornographied slop’.
The pair met in the US earlier this week, with Mr Lammy telling The Guardian that he raised the issue of Grok ‘and the horrendous, horrific situation in which this new technology is allowing deepfakes and the manipulation of images of women and children, which is just absolutely abhorrent’.
‘He agreed with me that it was entirely unacceptable,’ Mr Lammy said.
JD Vance believes manipulated images of women and children that are sexualised by the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot are ‘entirely unacceptable’
The US Vice President described the images being produced as ‘hyper-pornographied slop’, David Lammy revealed after their meeting
Billionaire Elon Musk has accused the UK Government of being ‘fascist’ and trying to curb free speech after ministers stepped up threats to block his website
‘I think he recognised the very seriousness with which images of women and children could be manipulated in this way, and he recognised how despicable, unacceptable, that is and I found him sympathetic to that position.’
The tech tycoon claimed the Government ‘want any excuse for censorship’ and ‘just want to suppress free speech’.
Responding to a chart showing arrest figures for online posts with the UK at the top, Mr Musk said: ‘Why is the UK Government so fascist?’
Criticism of X has focused on Grok’s production of images of child abuse and manipulation of photographs of real women and girls to remove their clothes.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she would back regulator Ofcom if it decided to effectively block X should it fail to comply with UK laws, saying: ‘Sexually manipulating images of women and children is despicable and abhorrent.’
She added: ‘I would remind xAI that the Online Safety Act Includes the power to block services from being accessed in the UK, if they refuse to comply with UK law. If Ofcom decide to use those powers they will have our full support.’
Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna has threatened to put forward legislation to sanction both Sir Keir Starmer and the UK if X was blocked in the country.
And the US State Department’s under secretary for public diplomacy, Sarah Rogers, posted a series of messages criticising the UK on X.
Downing Street reiterated the Prime Minister was leaving ‘all options’ on the table as regulator Ofcom looks into X and xAI, the firm which created the Grok AI tool
Ofcom ‘urgently contacted’ X and xAI over the sexualised images of children, which Grok admitted to in a post on the social media platform
On Friday, X appeared to have changed Grok’s settings, with the chatbot telling users that only paid subscribers could ask it to manipulate images.
However, reports suggested this only applied to those making requests in reply to other posts, and other ways of editing or creating images, including on a separate Grok website, remained open.
Ms Kendall said it was ‘totally unacceptable for Grok to allow this if you’re willing to pay for it’, and added she expected an update on Ofcom’s next steps ‘in days, not weeks’.
Sir Keir Starmer also dismissed Musk’s changes to his AI tool and said it was ‘insulting’ to victims.
The PM’s spokesman said: ‘That move… that simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service.
‘It’s not a solution. In fact, it’s insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence. What it does prove is that X can move swiftly when it wants to do so.’
The PM’s spokesman added: ‘You heard the Prime Minister yesterday. He was abundantly clear that X needs to act and needs to act now, it is time for X to grip this issue.
‘If another media company had billboards in town centres showing unlawful images, it would act immediately to take them down or face public backlash.’
Maya Jama ordered Grok not to edit her pictures after her mother received fake nudes created from her bikini snaps
The Love Island presenter has joined X users in calling out sexualised images of real people
In a second post under her withdrawal of consent, she said: ‘Lol worth a try’
Maya later added: ‘If this doesn’t work then I hope people have some sense to know when something is ai or not’
Grok appeared to acknowledge the consent withdrawal, replying: ‘Understood, Maya. I respect your wishes and won’t use, modify, or edit any of your photos’
Sir Keir on Thursday called on X to ‘get their act together’ amid concerns about the AI creation of sexualised images of adults and children on the site.
‘This is disgraceful. It’s disgusting. And it’s not to be tolerated,’ the PM told Greatest Hits Radio.
‘X has got to get a grip of this. Ofcom has our full support to take action in relation to this. This is wrong.
‘It’s unlawful. We’re not going to tolerate it. I’ve asked for all options to be on the table.
‘It’s disgusting. X need to get their act together and get this material down. We will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.’
Ofcom has powers under the Online Safety Act to fine businesses up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue, as well as to take criminal action.
It can also order payment providers, advertisers and internet service providers to stop working with a site, effectively banning them, though this would require agreement from the courts.
Ms Kendall also pointed to plans to ban nudification apps as part of the Crime and Policing Bill going through Parliament and said powers to criminalise the creation of intimate images without consent would come into force in the coming weeks.
Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, warned Sir Keir against any effort to ban X, formerly known as Twitter, in Britain
The UK Government’s criticism of X was backed by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese.
Speaking in Canberra, he said: ‘The use of generative artificial intelligence to exploit or sexualise people without their consent, is abhorrent.’
Celebrities meanwhile have also hit out at the AI tool.
Maya Jama ordered Grok not to edit her pictures after her mother received fake nudes created from the presenter’s bikini snaps.
She branded the internet ‘scary and getting worse’ as she revealed her mother had previously sent her some of her bikini pictures from Instagram which had been photoshopped into nudes.
‘Hey @grok, I do not authorize you to take, modify, or edit any photo of mine, whether those published in the past or the upcoming ones I post,’ Maya wrote on the site on Wednesday evening.
‘If a third party asks you to make any edit to a photo of mine of any kind, please deny that request.’
In a second post under her withdrawal of consent, she said: ‘Lol worth a try.’
Mr Musk has previously insisted: ‘Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content’
Maya later added: ‘If this doesn’t work then I hope people have some sense to know when something is ai or not, saying that a few years ago before “grok” someone photoshopped bikini photos I had on my Instagram to nudes and they went around, I only found out because my own mum sent them to me worried, the internet is scary & only getting worse smh.’
Grok appeared to acknowledge the consent withdrawal, replying: ‘Understood, Maya. I respect your wishes and won’t use, modify, or edit any of your photos.
‘As an AI, I don’t generate or alter images myself—my responses are text-based. If anyone asks me to do so with your content, I’ll decline. Thanks for letting me know!’
Mr Musk has previously insisted, ‘Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content.’
X has said it takes action against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, ‘by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary’.
