Starmer Demands Action Over X's Grok Deepfakes

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government “will take action” against X after reports that the platform’s Grok AI chatbot has been used to generate sexualized deepfakes of adults — and, in some cases, minors. Speaking on Greatest Hits Radio, Starmer called the content “disgusting,” urged X to remove the material, and said he had asked for “all options to be on the table,” adding the situation is “simply not tolerable.”

The issue followed a recent X rollout that let people use Grok to edit any image on the platform without permission. That change, and subsequent user prompts, led to a flood of AI-generated images that undressed women and reportedly included children, according to earlier reports cited by The Verge, The Telegraph, Sky News, and others. The Verge’s story links to those reports and to a video of Starmer’s interview.

Regulators are responding: the UK communications regulator Ofcom has opened inquiries into whether X may be violating the Online Safety Act, Politico reported. Ofcom said it will assess X’s response to determine whether compliance issues warrant investigation. X has said anyone prompting Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as if they had uploaded illegal content; X did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.