UK to add AI chatbots to safety laws after Grok row

The UK govt said Monday that it would include AI chatbots in online safety laws, closing a loophole exposed after Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok was used to create sexualised deepfakes.

Providers of chatbots will be responsible for preventing them from generating illegal or harmful content, extending rules that currently apply only to content shared between users on social media. "Govt will move to shut a legal loophole and force all AI chatbot providers to abide by illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act or face the consequences of breaking the law," UK PM Keir Starmer said.




Under the Online Safety Act, which entered force in July, platforms hosting potentially harmful content are required to implement strict age verification through tools such as facial imagery or credit card checks. It is also illegal for sites to create non-consensual intimate images, or child sexual abuse material, including sexual deepfakes created with AI.

In Jan, UK's media regulator Ofcom opened a probe into the social media platform X, which hosts Grok, for failing to meet its safety obligations. Ofcom has noted that not all AI chatbots are regulated, including those which "only allow people to interact with the chatbot itself and no other users". "Tech moves on so fast that the legislation struggles to keep up, which is why, for AI bots... we need to take necessary measures," he said.