Overview
- Ofcom says it will assess whether X failed legal duties to protect UK users after reports of undressed deepfakes and sexualised images of children linked to Grok.
- The watchdog contacted X on January 5, set a January 9 deadline for evidence, received a response, and then launched the investigation after an expedited review.
- Possible sanctions include fines of up to 10% of global revenue or £18 million and, in severe cases, court orders that could disrupt payments, advertising, or access in the UK.
- X and xAI say they remove illegal content and have limited Grok’s image tools to paying subscribers, a step UK ministers criticize as insufficient.
- International scrutiny is widening as Indonesia and Malaysia block Grok, the EU orders X to preserve Grok-related documents, UK ministers weigh further action, and the UK plans to criminalize creating sexual deepfakes this week.