TeaHe released a stream of AI-generated images of bikini-clad women and children on Twitter, some of which were in erotic poses or with injuries, leading to a strong reaction from UK politicians and regulators. Monday’s announcement that Ax was being investigated was Ofcom’s most belligerent move since key provisions in the Online Safety Act came into force. None of the other businesses he has challenged or fined have anything like the global reach or political power of Elon Musk’s social media giant. Whatever happens next, this is a defining moment. What is being defined is the extent to which some of the wealthiest companies on the planet are under democratic control.
But the announcement is only the first step. Ofcom has given no indication of how long its investigation will take. On Friday, Downing Street described a decision to limit the use of the image-creating Grok AI chatbot to paying customers of Ax as outrageous. The government said this amounted to turning the creation of outrageous deepfakes into a “premium service”.
Such strong language is welcome. It was also announced by the Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall, that the promised ban on the creation of non-consensual intimate images will come into force this week, and that nudification apps will soon be outlawed. David Lammy claimed at the weekend that JD Vance shares the UK government’s objection to tools that enable users to take off the clothes of children in photographs. Clearly, the minister does not want a fight with Donald Trump and would prefer to engage US politicians to challenge big tech over image-based abuse. But Mr Musk’s aggressive opposition to regulation could make a public fight inevitable. He wants Grok to be competitive with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. And sex sells.
Britain is not alone in taking a stand. Both Indonesia and Malaysia have restricted access to Grok in response to the spread of intimate deepfakes. Germany’s Media Minister Wolfram Weimer has called on the European Commission to take action against the “industrialization of sexual harassment”. But with OpenAI expected to soon enable the creation of erotic content using ChatGPT, the fear is that the floodgates of deepfake pornography are about to open. Serious concerns about this are not limited to the need for age verification to protect children. Most 18-year-olds in the UK are still at school. They, and older adults, also deserve protection from harm caused by intimate deepfakes. The risks of violent online pornography may also be increased by AI if it makes such content more easily accessible.
Tech businesses should never be allowed to dictate the pace of change to the extent that new tools are released before their impact is discussed or independently evaluated. The UK’s online security laws are among the most advanced in the world. But the craze for bikini shots has exposed a loophole in the law that places more restrictions on images of people in underwear than swimwear – even when the level of coverage is the same.
While children’s access to social media apps is a separate issue from the design of AI tools, it is no surprise that the issue of age limits has been raised by senior politicians on the right and left in recent times. Ministers must get on the front foot and decide what they think about children using AI. But the immediate priority is Grok. Ofcom has barked, and needs to show it can bite.
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