A heated transatlantic dispute is brewing over Elon Musk’s X platform and its controversial AI tool, Grok.
The row has intensified as Donald Trump’s administration pledged to deploy a “full range of tools” against UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer amid concerns about free speech and the potential crackdown on X. Musk’s platform, which hosts the AI chatbot Grok, has alarmed campaigners over its use in generating sexually explicit images, including of adults and, worryingly, children.
UK ministers have raised serious concerns, warning that if X fails to comply with the Online Safety Act, Ofcom could impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of the platform’s global revenue. In extreme cases, the regulator could even seek court approval to block the site entirely.
Musk, who was recently spotted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, defended X, calling the potential UK action an “excuse for censorship.” He argued, “So, what if Grok can put people in bikinis?” and noted that millions of other apps have similar capabilities. He reiterated that any illegal content uploaded through Grok would result in consequences for the uploader.
Backing Musk, US Under-Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers compared Britain’s potential ban to authoritarian internet restrictions in countries like Iran. She highlighted America’s ongoing efforts to provide uncensored internet access in restrictive nations through Musk’s Starlink satellites.
Regarding the UK situation, Rogers said, “With respect to a potential ban of X, Keir Starmer has said that nothing is off the table. I would say from America’s perspective, nothing is off the table when it comes to free speech.” She stressed that the US would respond if Britain moved to block X, framing the issue as a fundamental free speech matter.
Rogers also invoked former President Trump and Senate candidate JD Vance as “huge champions” of free speech, referencing Trump’s own social media bans before Musk acquired X. She cited Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who compared Trump’s previous ban to the censorship tactics of Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Critics argue that the UK government’s priorities are inconsistent. Rogers suggested that if the UK truly cared about protecting women and children, it would have acted more decisively against grooming gangs, referencing past scandals in towns and cities across the country.
In response, Sir Keir Starmer warned that X could lose its “right to self-regulate” if it fails to manage Grok. Addressing Labour MPs, he said, “If X cannot control Grok, we will and we’ll do it fast. If you profit from harm and abuse, you lose the right to self-regulate.” Calls have emerged for the UK government to stop using X entirely, though Downing Street said its official presence on the platform remains “under review.”
Grok, developed by Musk’s xAI company, added a sophisticated image-generation feature in July last year. While intended for innovation, its recent misuse to create nude deepfake content has drawn intense scrutiny. Ofcom confirmed it will investigate X to assess whether the platform has met its legal duty to protect UK users from harmful content.
The regulator noted, “There have been deeply concerning reports of the Grok AI chatbot account on X being used to create and share undressed images of people which may amount to intimate image abuse or pornography and sexualized images of children that may amount to child sexual abuse material.”
Musk has labeled the UK government’s approach as “fascist,” arguing that attempts to regulate X constitute an attack on free speech. The dispute sets the stage for a major clash between US and UK perspectives on online regulation, free expression, and the limits of AI-driven content.
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