Britain’s telecoms watchdog Ofcom has opened a “formal investigation” into social network X in relation to sexually suggestive images distributed by its AI assistant Grok, Ofcom said in a statement.
“There are alarming reports that Grok is being used to take and share nude photographs of individuals, which could constitute a decency offence or pornography, as well as sexually explicit images of children, which could constitute child pornography,” it said.
Ofcom wants to investigate whether X complies with the Online Safety Act, which requires social media platforms to ensure the safety of their users. The regulator has the power to impose fines or block platforms. In a first step, the watchdog will analyse the collected evidence and make a preliminary decision.
If the regulator finds Grok has breached the law, Ofcom could fine X up to 10 percent of its global turnover or £18 million, the BBC reports.
The British government had previously threatened to block X over Grok’s sexually explicit images of women and children. The X chatbot mass-generates images of people undressed by AI without their consent. Research revealed that this amounts to thousands of sexually explicit images per hour.
British Business Secretary Peter Kyle told Times Radio on Monday that the government would “certainly” consider blocking X, but that the law requires ministers to let the regulator do its job. A British watchdog that tracks online child abuse says it has already found illegal images generated by Grok showing sexualised young girls on the dark web.
