JD Vance believes the sexualised manipulation of images of women and children by the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot are “entirely unacceptable”, David Lammy said after talks with 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 effectively 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 production of images of undressed people and sexualised images of children and is carrying out an “expedited assessment” of the firms’ response.
But Deputy Prime Minister Mr Lammy said Mr Vance was sympathetic to the UK’s position on the issue.
Mr Lammy, who met Mr Vance in the US earlier this week, told The Guardian 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.
“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 if it failed 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.
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”.
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.
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.”
