Sir Keir Starmer has said he “won’t back down” in his fight with Elon Musk over the creation of deepfakes using X’s AI tool Grok amid claims the social media platform has now restricted the chatbot from creating sexualised images.
The use of Grok to create sexually explicit content, including child sexual abuse, has prompted a wave of concern among ministers, with the regulator Ofcom announcing an investigation into claims the tool was being used to digitally undress people.
Sir Keir piled pressure on the tech billionaire to take action after he initially only restricted access to the creation of images to X’s premium subscribers following the backlash – describing the move as “horrific” and suggesting X could be banned in the UK if it failed to act to stop it completely.
Now, Mr Musk, who initially claimed any plans to ban the platform were “fascist” and accused the UK of trying to curb free speech, has reportedly removed the function.
Speaking at PMQs on Wednesday, Sir Keir said: “The actions of Grok and X are disgusting and they’re shameful, and frankly, the decision to then turn this into a premium service is horrific, and we’re absolutely determined to take action here.
“We’ve made it clear that X has to act, but if not, Ofcom has our full backing and will introduce, and are introducing, legislation.
“I have been informed this morning that X is acting to ensure full compliance with UK law. If so, that is welcome, but we’re not going to back down. They must act.”
The PM was responding to Emily Darlington, Labour MP for Milton Keynes Central, who said: “If reports are correct, Elon Musk has climbed down today under pressure from this government. And let’s be clear, stripping women naked without consent in real life or online is abuse. But we don’t know whether to trust what X is saying today, and this isn’t just happening on X.”
Ms Darlington then revealed to The Independent that in the minutes after her question to the prime minister, people had put in requests to Grok asking for AI-generated pictures of her in a bikini or stripped naked.
She said: “Fortunately, Grok does not seem to have responded to them, so hopefully a change has been made.”
The MP added: “What I think is really important about what’s happening is, really clearly, we can enforce UK law. We can stand up to these tech giants, yeah, and they will change.”
She argued that the UK’s position as one of the two centres of the English language, along with the US, gives it much more power in dealing with social media giants.
Ms Darlington added: “The next battle is over elections and dealing with deep fakes and algorithms which favour certain political parties.”
A climbdown by Elon Musk and X would mark a rare victory for Sir Keir after the government also said it would bring into force a law making the creation of non-consensual sexual images illegal after the row.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall said the criminal offence would be brought into force this week under the Data (Use and Access) Act passed by Parliament last year.
However, a spokesperson for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said while the legal steps to introduce the offence were being made this week, it would not come into force until February.
Ms Kendall also condemned the platform’s decision to limit some use of Grok’s image-generating function to X’s paying subscribers, saying the platform was “monetising abuse”.
Downing Street and X have been contacted for comment.
