Musk claims outcry over Grok deepfakes ‘excuse for censorship’

Critics of X “want any excuse for censorship”, Elon Musk has claimed as his website faces the threat of being shut down over deepfake pornography and child abuse images.

The billionaire appeared defiant on Friday night despite the outcry over reports X’s AI chatbot Grok was creating sexualised images of people, including children, at users’ request.

Pointing to claims other AI programmes created non-sexualised images of women in bikinis, he posted on X: “They want any excuse for censorship.”

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.”

Ofcom said it was undertaking an “expedited assessment” after X and responded to an urgent contact on Monday.

But Mr Musk responded by sharing a post from US legislator Anna Paulina Luna threatening to sanction both Sir Keir Starmer and the UK if X was blocked in the country.

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.