In a significant transatlantic alignment on digital ethics, US Vice President JD Vance has concurred with UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy that the creation of sexualised AI deepfakes is "entirely unacceptable". The agreement came during a high-level meeting in Washington on Thursday, 8th January 2026, where the misuse of artificial intelligence, particularly via Elon Musk's Grok chatbot, was a key topic.
Washington Meeting Reveals Shared Concerns
Following discussions on Greenland, Mr Lammy raised what he termed "the Grok issue" with Mr Vance. The Deputy PM highlighted the "horrendous, horrific situation" where new technology is facilitating the creation of manipulated images of women and children. "He agreed with me that it was entirely unacceptable," Lammy told The Guardian. Sources confirmed Mr Vance expressed his own concerns about AI fuelling a wave of "hyper-pornographied slop" online.
Mounting Pressure on X and Grok
The political intervention follows alarming reports from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) earlier this week. The charity revealed that criminals had been exploiting Grok's capabilities to generate child sexual abuse imagery. This came amid numerous complaints, primarily from women on X, that the tool was being used to create non-consensual nude images.
In response, X appeared to alter Grok's settings, limiting image generation and editing to paid subscribers. However, this move was met with sharp criticism from Downing Street, which labelled it "insulting". Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stated X needed "to get a grip of" the situation and had asked media regulator Ofcom for "all options to be on the table".
Musk's Defiance and Ongoing Dialogue
Elon Musk responded defiantly, sharing a post that criticised the Labour government for focusing on his platform. "They want any excuse for censorship," the tech billionaire claimed, pointing to other AI programmes creating non-sexualised images. Musk had previously stated that anyone using Grok for illegal content would face full consequences.
Despite the controversy, the dialogue between the UK and US continues. Mr Lammy revealed he and Mr Vance had been in touch again on Saturday, 10th January, about the "very serious issue". "He confirmed with me that he had seen that there had been some changes announced by X as of this morning," Lammy added. As of now, Mr Vance, a long-standing proponent of AI technology, has not made any public comment on the Grok reports.
