Tech minister Liz Kendall says the government will back a robust regulatory response

Ofcom is investigating X over potential violations of the Online Safety Act, Britian's comms watchdog has confirmed.

The probe follows heavy pressure from politicians for the regulator to take action after a period of heightened scrutiny of its AI chatbot, Grok, generating sexualized images without the consent of users, mainly women.

Announcing the investigation, Ofcom said on Monday: "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 sexualised images of children that may amount to child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

"As the UK's independent online safety watchdog, we urgently made contact with X on Monday, January 5, and set a firm deadline of Friday, January 9, for it to explain what steps it has taken to comply with its duties to protect its ...