Elon Musk calls UK govt 'fascist' amid Grok AI image controversy

Elon Musk has accused the UK government of acting in a “fascist” manner after British authorities escalated warnings against his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) over explicit images generated by its AI chatbot, Grok.

The tech billionaire made the remarks in response to an online chart claiming the UK had the highest number of arrests globally for social media-related comments.

“Why is the UK government so fascist?” Musk wrote in a post. In earlier comments, he accused Britain of trying to “suppress free speech” and referred to the country as a “prison island.”

The comments come amid mounting scrutiny of Grok, an AI tool developed by Musk’s startup xAI. 

According to third-party researchers, X has become a major platform for the spread of non-consensual AI-generated images, including cases where individuals are digitally undressed without permission.

The UK’s Internet Watch Foundation said it had identified “criminal” images on the dark web allegedly produced using Grok. 

The organisation reported that some images depicted sexualised content involving girls aged between 11 and 13, meeting the threshold for law enforcement action.

It should be noted that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has demanded urgent action from X, warning the company to address the issue immediately.