UK regulator Ofcom has launched an investigation into social media platform X over allegations its AI chatbot Grok breached British law and shared sexualised images of children.
A viral trend of using the platform to recreate images of people in a state of undress or wearing a bikini has caused backlash as images were generated and shared online without consent.
The regulator said in a statement on Monday that it also received reports of Grok being used to create sexualised images of children. Ofcom said it would investigate the platform to determine whether it "has complied with its duties to protect people in the UK from content that is illegal".
The regulator made "urgent contact" with X on January 5 to ask it to explain what steps it would take to protect UK users and set a "firm deadline" of January 9. X met that deadline, Ofcom added.
The decision to launch the formal investigation was made after Ofcom reviewed available evidence "as a matter of urgency".
"There have been deeply concerning reports of the Grok AI chatbot account on X being used to create and share undressed images of people – which may amount to intimate image abuse or pornography – and sexualised images of children that may amount to child sexual abuse material," the regulator said.
The investigation was welcomed by British Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, who said: "It is vital that Ofcom completes this investigation swiftly because the public – and most importantly the victims – will not accept any delay.
"The content created and shared using Grok in recent days has been deeply disturbing."
Ministers have expressed disgust at the use of the tool to make deepfakes and said they would back Ofcom if it decided to block access to X over a failure to comply with online safety laws. Ofcom has been in contact with X and xAI, Grok's creator, over the production of images of undressed people and sexualised images of children and is carrying out an "expedited assessment" of their responses.
Tech tycoon Elon Musk, founder of xAI and owner of X, has accused the UK government of being "fascist" and trying to curb free speech, after the threats from ministers.
Last week he criticised the UK government claiming Britain arrests more people for social media posts than "any other country on Earth".
British Trade Secretary Peter Kyle, who previously served as technology secretary, defended the country's Online Safety Act but conceded there was "more work to do" to protect people online. "Let me be really clear about X – X is not doing enough to keep its customers safe online," he told Sky News.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said US Vice President JD Vance was sympathetic to efforts to tackle the Grok-produced images.
But Sarah Rogers, undersecretary for public diplomacy at the US State Department, later said the UK was "contemplating a Russia-style X ban, to protect them from bikini images".
There are concerns a potential ban could amount to restrictions on freedom of speech. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she believed banning X was the "wrong answer".
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also expressed fears over free speech. Speaking at a media conference in central London, he said: "Nothing from the current set of regulators in government would surprise me when it comes to the suppression of free speech."
