What to Know About UK Legal Changes Aiming to Regulate AI-Generated Nude Images
New laws are set to be enforced in the U.K. that will make it illegal to create online sexual images of individuals without their consent. This legislative action comes in response to widespread backlash over the use of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, which has been implicated in generating sexualized deepfakes of women and children.
In a recent announcement, Musk’s company, xAI, stated that it has implemented measures to prevent Grok from enabling the alteration of photos to depict real individuals in revealing attire where such actions are illegal.
Government Response
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed support for these changes, insisting that X must “immediately” comply with U.K. law. He emphasized that the government will monitor any violations by Grok and its users, stating, “Free speech is not the freedom to violate consent.” Starmer remarked on the importance of this issue, framing it as a matter of societal values.
Long Overdue Regulations
Critics argue that the regulations concerning generative AI tools are long overdue, suggesting that the U.K. should have acted sooner to protect individuals from non-consensual deepfakes.
Investigative Action
The U.K.’s media regulator, Ofcom, has initiated an investigation to determine whether X has violated U.K. laws in connection with Grok-generated images depicting the sexualization of children and individuals.
Ofcom has noted that such images might be categorized as pornography or even child sexual abuse material. The concerns arose following the launch of Grok Imagine, an AI image generator that allows users to produce content by entering text prompts, including a “spicy mode” designed for adult content.
Legislative Measures Being Taken
To tackle these issues, the government is accelerating provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act, making it a criminal offense to create or request deepfake images. Although this act was passed by Parliament last year, it has not yet been enacted. The new legislation is anticipated to take effect on February 6.
Justice Secretary David Lammy stated, “Let this be a clear message to every cowardly perpetrator hiding behind a screen: you will be stopped, and when you are, make no mistake that you will face the full force of the law.”
Additionally, the government plans to criminalize “nudification” applications within the framework of the Crime and Policing Bill, currently under consideration in Parliament. This new provision will target companies supplying tools designed to create non-consensual intimate imagery, addressing the issue at its source.
Ongoing Investigations and Potential Consequences
The investigation by Ofcom is ongoing, with the possibility of X facing fines amounting to 10% of its qualifying global revenue, depending on the investigation’s findings. There is also potential for a court order that could block access to the site.
Starmer has faced pressure to terminate the government’s use of X, with Downing Street indicating that their presence on the platform is “under review.” In defense, Musk asserted that Grok complies with legal requirements, stating that it will refuse to generate illegal images, adhering to the laws of each country.
He also noted that any unexpected results from adversarial hacking of Grok would be promptly addressed.
