Elon Musk has escalated a bitter dispute with the UK Government by sharing artificial intelligence-generated images of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wearing bikinis. The move comes as his social media platform, X, faces the potential of being blocked in Britain over its failure to prevent the creation of sexualised deepfakes using its AI chatbot, Grok.
Musk's Provocative Post and Government Backlash
On Friday, 10 January 2026, the billionaire owner of X reposted a user's submission containing two fabricated images of the Labour leader. Accompanying the images was the caption: "They just want to suppress free speech." Musk was responding to a query about why the government was focusing on Grok when other AI platforms could also generate similar imagery.
This provocative act followed urgent warnings from Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, who stated she would support blocking UK access to X if it did not comply with online safety laws. "Sexually manipulating images of women and children is despicable and abhorrent," Kendall declared. "If X does not get a grip, we will act." Her comments came after communications regulator Ofcom confirmed it had made "urgent contact" with X and was conducting an expedited assessment of the Grok chatbot.
X's Inadequate Response and Political Condemnation
In a limited response to the controversy, X restricted the image-generation function within Grok to paying subscribers last Friday. However, this measure only applied to requests made in reply to existing posts. Alternative methods for creating images, including via a separate Grok website, reportedly remained fully accessible.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister strongly criticised this move, labelling it "insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence." They argued that turning a feature enabling unlawful image creation into a premium service was not a solution, but proved X could act swiftly when it chose to. "He was abundantly clear that X needs to act and needs to act now," the spokesperson said of Starmer's position.
Legal Repercussions and Musk's Defence
The UK Government is preparing to enact stricter laws, with powers to criminalise the creation of intimate images without consent set to come into force within weeks as part of the ongoing Crime and Policing Bill. Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom possesses the authority to impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of a company's global revenue, and can ultimately seek court approval to block a service entirely.
Defending his platform, Musk insisted on Friday night that the UK Government sought "any excuse for censorship." He pointed to claims that other AI programs create non-sexualised bikini images and shared a post from a US legislator threatening sanctions against the UK if X were blocked. Grok, developed by Musk's xAI corporation, is a free AI assistant for X users with additional premium features, and its image-editing tools have previously been linked to creating celebrity nude deepfakes.
The standoff highlights the growing tension between rapid AI development and online safety regulation, placing X's future operations in the UK in serious jeopardy.
