Elon Musk publicly criticized the British government as "fascist" for moving to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) deepfake pornography. As debate over free speech grows around Britain's hard-line crackdown, there is talk it could spill into a diplomatic dispute between the United States and Britain as U.S. politicians wade in.
On the 10th (local time), Musk wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account, "Why is the U.K. government so fascist?" as he retweeted a post saying Britain leads the world in the number of online crime crackdowns. He added, "They are looking for any excuse to censor," and shared another user's post that said, "This is not a new problem, just a new tool." He also retweeted an AI-generated composite image showing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a bikini, fueling controversy.
The British government is taking strong action as the deepfake pornography problem spreads, centering on X and Grok, an AI chatbot led by Musk. Liz Kendall, U.K. Technology Minister, said on the 9th that she would support the move if the broadcaster regulator Ofcom decides to block X over Grok. Prime Minister Starmer also called the creation and distribution of child sexual exploitation images "disgusting and illegal" and stressed that X must control Grok.
First unveiled in Nov. 2023, Grok is linked to an X account and generates images immediately upon user request. Unlike other AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, which strictly limit the creation of sexual images, Grok has applied relatively loose standards under the banner of free expression. In particular, there have been repeated claims that creating explicit images has become easier since an update late last year.
The issue is spreading beyond Britain into an international flashpoint. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticized Grok's indiscriminate generation of sexual images as "an example of social media failing to meet its social responsibilities," and Indonesia temporarily blocked access to Grok.
The debate over free speech is also widening into U.S.-U.K. relations. U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, known as an ally of President Donald Trump, said she would introduce a bill to sanction Britain if it blocks X. Republican lawmakers have also reportedly conveyed their concerns to the British government.
The United States and Britain had already clashed late last year over online free speech. At the time, the U.S. administration barred entry to five people who led the European Union's big tech regulatory legislation, saying they censored U.S. online platform corporations, and some of them were British nationals. Attention is on whether tensions between the two countries will flare again, spurred by Musk's backlash this time.