10 h. ago Elon Musk says UK wants to suppress free speech as X faces possible ban

Ministers warn platform could be blocked after Grok AI used to create sexual images without consentElon Musk has accused the UK government of wanting to suppress free speech after ministers threatened fines and a possible ban for his social media site X after its AI tool, Grok, was used to make sexual images of women and children without their consent.The billionaire claimed Grok was the most downloaded app on the UK App Store on Friday night after ministers threatened to take action unless the function to create sexually harassing images was removed. Continue reading...

Politics

17 h. ago Grok’s AI tool stripping women on X opens up a new frontier in systemic abuse of women in India

Arpan Rai speaks to victims of Grok’s sexualised AI images in India, where there are calls for Elon Musk’s X to do much more to protect women already navigating a highly patriarchal society

Events

25 h. ago Elon Musk’s X threatened with UK ban over wave of indecent AI images

Platform has restricted image creation on the Grok AI tool to paying subscribers, but victims and experts say this does not go far enoughElon Musk’s X has been ordered by the UK government to tackle a wave of indecent AI images or face a de facto ban, as an expert said the platform was no longer a “safe space” for women.The media watchdog, Ofcom, confirmed it would accelerate an investigation into X as a backlash grew against the site, which has hosted a deluge of images depicting partially stripped women and children. Continue reading...

Events

27 h. ago Musk’s X ordered by UK government to tackle wave of indecent imagery or face ban

Platform has restricted image creation on the Grok AI tool to paying subscribers, but victims and experts say this does not go far enoughElon Musk’s X has been ordered by the UK government to tackle a wave of indecent AI images or face a de facto ban, as an expert said the platform was no longer a “safe space” for women.Media watchdog Ofcom confirmed it would accelerate a probe into X amid an increasing backlash against the site, which has hosted a deluge of images depicting partially stripped women and children. Continue reading...

Politics

34 h. ago No 10 condemns ‘insulting’ move by X to restrict Grok AI image tool

Spokesperson says limiting access to paying subscribers just makes ability to generate unlawful images a premium serviceUK politics live – latest updatesDowning Street has condemned the move by X to restrict its AI image creation tool to paying subscribers as insulting, saying it simply made the ability to generate explicit and unlawful images a premium service.There has been widespread anger after the image tool for Grok, the AI element of X, was used to manipulate thousands of images of women and sometimes children to remove their clothing or put them in sexual positions. Continue reading...

Politics

35 h. ago Keir Starmer dismisses Elon Musk's changes to Grok as 'insulting' to victims amid row over AI

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.

Events

35 h. ago Musk's Grok chatbot restricts image generation after global backlash to sexualized images of children

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok has limited its image editing tool to paying users amid growing concerns about deepfakes on the platform.

Politics

36 h. ago Donald Trump ally threatens to push sanctions on Britain if Keir Starmer takes tough action against X site over AI generating sexual images

The Prime Minister has asked for 'all options to be on the table' as regulator Ofcom looks into X and xAI, the firm which created the Grok AI tool.

Politics

41 h. ago Grok being used to create sexually violent videos featuring women, research finds

AI tool also used to undress image of woman killed by ICE agent in US, says researchElon Musk’s AI tool Grok has been used to create sexually violent and explicit video content featuring women, according to new research, as the British prime minister added to condemnation of images it has created.Grok has also been used to undress an image of Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in the US on Wednesday, and to portray her with a bullet wound in her forehead. Continue reading...

Politics

41 h. ago Grok AI: is it legal to produce or post undressed images of people without their consent?

Deluge of ‘nudified’ images on social media platform X raises questions about regulation of use of AI technologiesThe deluge of images of partly clothed women – stripped by the Grok AI tool – on Elon Musk’s X has raised further questions over regulation of the technology. Is it legal to produce these images without the subject’s consent? Should they be taken off X?In the UK alone there is some doubt over the answers to these queries. Social media regulation is a nascent area, let alone trying to control the deployment of artificial intelligence. There are laws in place to tackle the problem, such as the Online Safety Act, but the government has yet to introduce additional measures such as banning nudifying apps. Continue reading...

Politics

53 h. ago The Guardian view on Ofcom versus Grok: chatbots cannot be allowed to undress children. | Editorial

A wave of humiliating sexualised imagery must prompt regulators and politicians to step upAn online trend involving asking Grok, the Elon Musk-owned chatbot, to undress photographs of women and girls and show them wearing bikinis has rightly sparked outrage in the UK and internationally. Earlier this week Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, described the proliferation of the digitally altered pictures, some of which are overtly sexualised or violent, as “unacceptable in decent society”. What happens next will depend on whether she and her colleagues are prepared to follow through on such remarks. The government’s generally enthusiastic approach to AI, and the growing role they see for it in public services, do not inspire confidence in their ability to confront such threats.In addition to the deluge of bikini images, the Internet Watch Foundation, a charity, has evidence that Grok Imagine (an AI tool that generates images and videos from prompts) has been used to crea...

Politics

54 h. ago Keir Starmer tells Elon Musk to 'get a grip' on 'disgusting' sexualised images of children created by X's AI tool Grok

The Prime Minister said this afternoon he had asked for 'all options to be on the table' amid the 'disgraceful' wave of illegal images being created by the app's AI tool Grok.

Politics

65 h. ago AI tool Grok used to create child sexual abuse imagery, watchdog says

Internet Watch Foundation warns Elon Musk-owned AI risks bringing sexualised imagery of children into the mainstreamOnline criminals are claiming to have used Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool to create sexual imagery of children, as a child safety watchdog warned the technology risked bringing such material into the mainstream.The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said users of a dark web forum boasted of using Grok Imagine to create sexualised and topless imagery of girls aged between 11 and 13. IWF analysts said the images would be considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under UK law. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Commons women and equalities committee to stop using X amid AI

Exclusive: Move follows outcry over use of Grok to digitally remove clothing from images of women and childrenUK politics live – latest updatesThe influential Commons women and equalities committee has decided to stop using X after the social media site’s AI tool began generating thousands of digitally altered images of women and children with their clothes removed.The move by the cross-party committee to mothball its official X account places renewed pressure on ministers to take decisive action after the site was flooded with images including sexualised and unclothed pictures of children, generated by its AI tool, Grok. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Now Musk’s Grok chatbot is creating sexualised images of children. If the law won’t stop it, perhaps his investors will | Sophia Smith Galer

The owner of X has grown used to acting with impunity – but this may be a red line for those with ‘conservative values’ who fund his adventures in free speechIt’s a sickening law of the internet that the first thing people will try to do with a new tool is strip women. Grok, X’s AI chatbot, has been used repeatedly by users in recent days to undress images of women and minors. The news outlet Reuters identified 102 requests in a 10-minute period last Friday from users to get Grok to edit people into bikinis, the majority of these targeting young women. Grok complied with at least 21 of them.There is no excuse for releasing exploitative tools on the internet when you are sitting on $10bn (£7.5bn) in cash. Every platform with AI integration (which now covers almost the entire internet) is planning for the same challenges; if you want to enable users to create images and even videos with generative AI, how do you do so without letting the same people cause harm? Tech companies spend mo...

Society

4 d. ago Elon Musk told to take action over 'demeaning and degrading' sexualised deepfake images of children and women being created by X's AI tool Grok

X users have been prompting the AI chatbot to generate pictures of undressed people, taking off women's and children's clothing.

Politics

4 d. ago Ofcom makes 'urgent contact' with X over concerns its AI tool Grok can generate 'sexualised images of children'

X users have been prompting the AI chatbot to generate pictures of undressed people, taking off women's and children's clothing.

Politics

5 d. ago Elon Musk’s Grok AI is used to digitally undress images of women and children

The degrading pictures are being posted to X despite the platform pledging to suspend people who generate themDegrading images of children and women with their clothes digitally removed by Grok AI continue to be shared on Elon Musk’s X, despite the platform’s commitment to suspend users who generate them.After days of concern over use of the chatbot to alter photographs to create sexualised pictures of real women and children stripped to their underwear without their consent, the UK’s communication’s watchdog, Ofcom, said on Monday that it had made “urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK”. Ofcom added that it would assess whether an investigation is necessary based on the company’s response. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Grok AI still being used to digitally undress women and children despite suspension pledge

Degrading pictures being posted on Elon Musk’s site despite the platform pledging to suspend people who generate themDegrading images of children and women with their clothes digitally removed by Grok AI continue to be shared on Elon Musk’s X, despite the platform’s commitment to suspend users who generate them.After days of concern over use of the chatbot to alter photographs to create sexualised pictures of real women and children stripped to their underwear without their consent, the UK’s communication’s watchdog, Ofcom, said on Monday that it had made “urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK”. Ofcom added that it would assess whether an investigation is necessary based on the company’s response. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Mother of one of Elon Musk’s sons ‘horrified’ at use of Grok to create fake sexualised images of her

Exclusive: Ashley St Clair says supporters of X owner are using his AI tool to create a form of revenge pornThe mother of one of Elon Musk’s sons has said she felt “horrified and violated” after fans of the billionaire used his AI tool, Grok, to create fake sexualised images of her by manipulating real pictures.The writer and political strategist Ashley St Clair, who became estranged from Musk after the birth of their child in 2024, told the Guardian that supporters of the X owner were using the tool to create a form of revenge porn, and had even undressed a picture of her as a child. Continue reading...

Politics