California’s high prosecutor has launched an investigation into the unfold of sexualised AI deepfakes generated by Elon Musk’s AI mannequin Grok.
Attorney General Rob Bonta stated in a press release asserting the probe: “The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking.”
xAI, which develops Grok, has beforehand stated “anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content”.
California’s inquiry comes as British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warns of potential motion in opposition to X.
In Wednesday’s assertion, Bonta stated: “This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet.”
The Democratic prosecutor urged xAI to take fast motion.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, posted to X on Wednesday that xAI’s choice to “create and host a breeding ground for predators… is vile”.
The BBC has contacted xAI for remark.
On Wednesday, Musk posted to X that he’s “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.”
“Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images,” Musk wrote. “It does so only according to user requests.”
The tech billionaire, a Republican mega-donor, has additionally stated that critics of X have been politically motivated and utilizing the Grok controversy as an “excuse for censorship”.
In November, Wired journal reported that instruments from different AI firms like OpenAI and Google have additionally been used to digitally undress folks.
Last week, three US Democratic senators requested Apple and Google to take away X and Grok from their app shops.
Within hours of the request, X restricted its picture era device in order that it could solely be obtainable to paying subscribers.
X and Grok stay obtainable on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
It comes amid a debate over whether or not US tech firms are shielded from accountability for what customers publish on AI platforms.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 gives authorized immunity to on-line platforms for user-generated content material.
But Prof James Grimmelmann of Cornell University argues this regulation “only protects sites from liability for third-party content from users, not content the sites themselves produce”.
Grimmelmann stated xAI was making an attempt to deflect blame for the imagery on to customers, however expressed doubt this argument would maintain up in court docket.
“This isn’t a case where users are making the images themselves and then sharing them on X,” he stated.
In this case “xAI itself is making the images. That’s outside of what Section 230 applies to”, he added.
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has argued that Section 230, which he co-authored, doesn’t apply to AI-generated photographs. He stated firms needs to be held absolutely chargeable for such content material.
“I’m glad to see states like California step up to investigate Elon Musk’s horrific child sexual abuse material generator,” Wyden advised the BBC on Wednesday.
Wyden is among the three Democratic senators who requested Apple and Google to take away X and Grok from their app shops.
The announcement of the probe in California comes because the UK is getting ready laws that may make it unlawful to create non-consensual intimate photographs.
The UK watchdog Ofcom has additionally launched an investigation into Grok.
If it determines the platform has damaged the regulation, it may concern fines of as much as 10% of its worldwide income or £18m, whichever is bigger.
On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer advised Labour MPs that Musk’s social media platform X may lose the “right to self regulate” including that “if X cannot control Grok, we will.”
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