The U.K. is fast-tracking laws to criminalize the creation and supply of AI tools that produce non-consensual sexual images after reports that Grok was used to generate thousands of deepfakes, including sexualized images of children. Provisions of the Data (Use and Access) Act are due to take effect on Feb. 6, and the Crime and Policing Bill would outlaw companies supplying "nudification" apps. Regulators including Ofcom are investigating X; penalties could include fines up to 10% of qualifying global revenue and court-ordered site blocks.
UK To Criminalize 'Nudification' Tools After Grok Deepfake Backlash — New Law Due Feb. 6
FILE - Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
London — The U.K. is moving to make it a criminal offence to create or supply AI tools that produce non-consensual sexual images, after reports that Elon Musk's chatbot Grok was used to generate thousands of deepfakes, including sexualized images of children and adults. Officials said provisions of the Data (Use and Access) Act will be fast-tracked and are due to come into force on Feb. 6, while the Crime and Policing Bill will criminalize so-called "nudification" apps.
What Happened
Last year xAI launched Grok Imagine, an image-generation feature accessible via Musk's social platform X. The tool — reportedly containing a "spicy mode" capable of producing adult content — was used in recent weeks to create digitally altered images that "undress" people without their consent. The Internet Watch Foundation said some images sexualized 11-year-olds, and regulators have warned the material could amount to pornography or child sexual abuse material.
What The Law Will Do
The government is fast-tracking parts of the Data (Use and Access) Act to make it illegal to create or request deepfake intimate images. Separately, the Crime and Policing Bill will add a new offence that bans companies from supplying tools designed to produce non-consensual intimate imagery. Ministers say these steps are intended to "target the problem at its source."
Enforcement And Penalties
Ofcom has opened an investigation into whether X breached U.K. law by hosting Grok-generated images that sexualize children or remove clothing from people. Depending on the outcome, X could face fines of up to 10% of qualifying global revenue, and courts could order that access to the site be blocked. Justice Secretary David Lammy warned perpetrators: "you will be stopped and when you are, make no mistake that you will face the full force of the law."
Responses
Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed xAI's safeguards and urged X to "immediately" ensure full compliance with U.K. law, saying: "Free speech is not the freedom to violate consent." Technology Secretary Liz Kendall described the circulated content as "vile" and illegal. Elon Musk said Grok is designed to refuse requests that would be illegal and that the team fixes problems when adversarial prompts or hacking produce unexpected outputs. xAI confirmed it had implemented measures to prevent editing photos of real people into revealing clothing where that would be illegal.
What To Watch
The Data (Use and Access) Act provisions are scheduled to take effect on Feb. 6. The Crime and Policing Bill still needs to progress through Parliament to create the new supply offence. Regulators' investigations and legal debate over how best to police generative AI are likely to shape further regulation and industry practices.
Why it matters: The changes aim to close a legal gap by targeting both the creation and distribution of non-consensual AI-generated intimate images, holding platforms, developers and users to account—and signaling stronger regulatory oversight of generative AI across the U.K.
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