Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has informed Parliament that the social media platform X is taking steps to ensure it complies with UK legislation, following a major controversy surrounding its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.
Government Stands Firm as Ofcom Probe Proceeds
The row erupted over reports that Grok's image-generation feature was being used to create sexualised depictions of women and children. Sir Keir told MPs on Wednesday 14 January 2026 that while news of X's action was welcome, the government would not "back down".
He confirmed that the media regulator, Ofcom, would continue its independent investigation into the platform, launched just days earlier on Monday. The Prime Minister gave the watchdog his government's full backing to take action if X did not make sufficient changes.
Musk Responds Amidst Mounting Pressure
Responding to a question from Labour MP Emily Darlington, Sir Keir repeated his condemnation of the AI's output as "disgusting" and "shameful". He provided an update to the House of Commons, stating: "I have been informed this morning that X is acting to ensure full compliance with UK law. If so, that is welcome, but we're not going to back down, and they must act."
He further warned that the government would strengthen existing laws and prepare new legislation if necessary. Following Prime Minister's Questions, his spokesman clarified the Prime Minister was referring to reports of changes by X to the ability to generate images of women.
Ministers Support Potential Ban and New Offences
The Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall, had earlier stated that Ofcom would have ministers' full support to act against X, which could include effectively banning the platform in the UK. She criticised the company's decision to limit some of Grok's image-generation functions to paying subscribers, accusing X of "monetising abuse".
Ms Kendall also confirmed that new legislation, making it a criminal offence to create or request non-consensual intimate images, would come into force this week in direct response to the Grok outcry.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, claimed he was not aware of "any naked underage images generated by Grok". He asserted that the chatbot's operating principle was to obey the laws of any country and that it would refuse to produce illegal content. Musk suggested that any inappropriate outputs might be due to "adversarial hacking" of the system, adding that such bugs would be fixed immediately.
