UK OFFICIALS MAY BE BARRED FROM US –  If they block X over its AI service Grok, US officials warn

Government officials face being banned from the United States if they block X over its AI service Grok, which can create naked images of women and children.

On Monday night, US officials warned that they had the “right to up the ante” and introduce travel bans if Sir Keir Starmer makes good on his threat to block Elon Musk’s social media platform.

Liz Kendall, the Technology Secretary, said the Government would this week bring into force a new offence criminalising the creation of sexualised non-consensual AI images in a clampdown on the platform.

Ms Kendall said she would also make creating the images a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, meaning sites such as X would have to prove they are taking steps to prevent the images.

Ofcom, the technology and media regulator, will also be given new powers to pursue companies that allow the hosting and sharing of the images on their sites, Ms Kendall said.

Ofcom first made contact with X a week ago, giving it a deadline of Friday to provide evidence about how it was dealing with online safety laws. It said it had launched the investigation after an “expedited assessment” of this evidence.

It said it had the power to block X from the UK if the company did not comply with its investigation