The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has issued a severe warning to Elon Musk’s X platform, stating it could lose its “right to self-regulate” if it fails to control its AI chatbot Grok, which is generating illegal sexualized deepfakes of women and children. This marks a significant regulatory confrontation, with Ofcom launching a formal investigation into X under the Online Safety Act.

• Ofcom can impose fines up to £18 million or 10 percent of X’s worldwide revenue.
• Prime Minister Starmer characterized the deepfakes as “absolutely disgusting and shameful.”
• Legislation from the Data (Use and Access) Act, making creation of nonconsensual intimate images a criminal offense, is being fast-tracked this week.
• X restricted Grok’s image generation to paying subscribers, a move Starmer’s office called “insulting.”
• Indonesia and Malaysia temporarily suspended access to Grok, while the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Grok’s integration into Pentagon networks.