British regulators are investigating X for lewd AI images generated by Grok, the AI arm of Elon Musk's social platform. Michael Goodyear, an associate professor at New York Law School, joins CBS News with more.

London

Britain's media regulator has initiated an investigation into X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, following concerns that its AI chatbot Grok has been used to create and share sexualized images, including those involving children. The UK prime minister warned that X could lose its right to self-regulate if it fails to control Grok's misuse. 

Legal experts note that while deepfake-related laws exist in many US states and recent federal legislation requires platforms to remove intimate images within 48 hours, enforcement is often limited to punitive measures after content is posted. Experts advise the public to practice online safety and remain aware of the reputational harm deepfakes can cause, even when images are artificial.

Brits launch investigation into Musk's X over Grok's AI-generated images

Britain's media regulator has opened an investigation into Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter. You see, there are concerns the platform's AI chatbot, known as Grok, is being used to create sexualized images. In a statement, the regulator said it was deeply concerned by reports of the chatbot being used to create and share undressed images of people and sexualized images of children. Britain's prime minister has warned that X could lose the right to self-regulate, saying, quote, if X cannot control Grok, we will. X has previously said it does take action against illegal content on its platform. It also warned anyone using Grok to make illegal content. It said they'll suffer the same consequences if they uploaded illegal content. So what does this all mean for the rest of us? Michael Goodyear joins us now. He's an associate professor at New York Law School. Michael, good morning. Help us understand what the UK is suggesting here and how its law could really address deepfakes. Morning, Errol. So there have been a lot of laws passed regarding deepfakes in the last few years. Although we have all this recent news about Grok, this isn't a new problem. So in the United States, the vast majority of states have some deepfakes law on the books. They vary in details, of course, but we have them in about 47 states as of last count. The issue comes with the content actually being posted. So content being created can cause problems, but the real concern for regulators and for us as individuals is what happens when that content that might share an intimate image of yourself gets posted to, say, X Facebook, another social media platform. So last year, there was a law passed here in the United States, the Take It Down Act, which was passed with bipartisan support. President Trump signed it into law. And that creates two things. There's both criminal liability for anyone who posts any sort of intimate image, whether real or artificially created, to any sort of public platform or shares it. And it also requires online platforms to remove that content within 48 hours of receiving notice from the victim. So that's currently kind of where we are in the United States. A few issues the Take It Down Act are that it's only enforced by the government. So we don't have any sort of private right of action if, say, X does not remove content, if they post an intimate image of myself. I can't do anything about that regarding X. Most of these major platforms, the big social media platforms, have had some sort of take-it-down structure in place prior to the law actually passing. So we'll see if anything changes once that law fully takes effect in May of this year. Well, it sounds like governments can't do anything to prevent it other than implementing punishment if it does get posted. So for our viewers watching, how can they protect themselves from becoming victims of deepfakes? What should they do if they find images of themselves online without consent? It's a really hard question, Errol. I think a big aspect is being very careful about what you might post online, basic media safety that we've been talking about for over a decade now. But I think there's also a bigger societal question here, not just for deepfakes that are sexual in nature, but deepfakes that might share someone's opinion that isn't actually theirs or endorsing a product that isn't theirs. And thinking about the harms being real. I think often a big problem with us is that people who are posting these images, they don't think it's as harmful because it's a fake image, right? It's not an image of our actual selves, but it still causes real harm to us, to our reputations, to how we experience the world. It's a scary and brave new world out there. Folks should be aware. Michael Goodyear, we appreciate you helping us raise that awareness. Thanks for being here.

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Britain will bring into effect a law criminalizing the creation of non-consensual intimate images this week, technology minister Liz Kendall told parliament after regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into Elon Musk's X.

UK investigates Musk's X over Grok sexual deepfakes

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Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, amid concerns that it is being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

Malaysia and Indonesia block Musk’s Grok over sexualized AI images

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Minneapolis

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Las Vegas

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Nuuk

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