The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee has criticized the UK government's handling of AI nudification tools, saying it is taking too long to ban apps, and that expedited legislation does not encompass multi-purpose platforms used to create nude images.
Grok, the AI chatbot owned and run by Elon Musk's xAI, caused controversy at the start of this year when users prompted it to create images of naked or barely dressed people – mostly women, some underage – from real photos. Over a 24-hour period between January 5 and 6, it generated 6,700 sexualized images every hour.
Regulators in the UK subsequently launched a probe and the government came under pressure to penalize X, formerly Twitter. Comms watchdog Ofcom, which polices the Online Safety Act (OSA), is now formally investigating the social media platform, which was bought by xAI in March 2025. Grok's nudity capabilities are still switched on for paying users.
Today's comments from Dame Chi Onwurah, chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, are in response to a letter from technology minister Liz Kendall, who tried to assure her that the government is tackling the issue.
Kendall said in her letter to Dame Onwurah, dated January 12 but made public this morning: "xAI's action to restrict this ability to paying users is a further insult to victims, effectively monetizing this horrific crime."
She said the OSA was built to deal with this situation and "intimate image abuse has been designated a 'priority offence,'" adding: "Ofcom has the mandate it needs to hold services to account for horrific illegal content on their sites and they have the government's unequivocal backing to use the full force of the powers that Parliament has granted them, up to and including, if they deem necessary, the power to apply to the courts to block services from being accessed in the UK if they refuse to comply with UK law."
The government is also banning nudification tools, and Kendall said: "We will bring forward this legislation as a priority, making amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill going through Parliament now."
Dame Onwurah responded, saying "significant questions remain" about the approach being taken, and asking why it has taken "so long" to introduce the nudification ban "when reports of these disturbing Grok deepfakes appeared in August 2025."
"It's also unclear whether this ban – which appears to be limited to apps that have the sole function of generating nude images – will cover multi-purpose tools like Grok."
Kendall also said if there are "gaps" in the OSA, the government will address them. To this, Dame Onwurah said: "This comes months after rejecting the committee's recommendations to explicitly regulate generative AI and put greater responsibility on platforms like X and Grok. I urge the government to adopt our recommendations and embed core principles – such as responsibility and transparency – into the online safety regime. These are essential principles to build a strong regulatory framework that protects users online."
The Register has asked X to respond. Instead of a poop emoji, which is what X used to send journalists contacting it for comment, these days the automated messages states "Legacy Media Lies." We're hoping it sends us a specific statement on the matters above. ®
Source: The register