"Starmer to extend online safety rules to AI chatbots after Grok scandal" 15/02/26

Makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services blocked in the UK under law changes to be announced by Keir Starmer on Monday.

Emboldened by Elon Musk’s X stopping its Grok AI tool from creating sexualised images of real people in the UK after public outrage last month, ministers are planning a “crackdown on vile illegal content created by AI”.

With more and more children using chatbots for everything from help with their homework to mental health support, the government said it would “move fast to shut a legal loophole and force all AI chatbot providers to abide by illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act or face the consequences of breaking the law”.

The moves come after the online regulator Ofcom admitted it lacked powers to act against Grok because images and videos that are created by a chatbot without it searching the internet are not in the scope of the existing laws, unless it amounts to pornography. The change to bring AI chatbots under the Online Safety Act could happen within weeks, although the loophole has been known about for more than two years.

Companies that breach the Online Safety Act can face punishments of up to 10% of global revenue and regulators can apply to courts to block their connection in the UK...

...Since the Californian 16-year-old Adam Raine took his own life after, his family allege, “months of encouragement from ChatGPT”, OpenAI has launched parental controls and is rolling out age-prediction technology to restrict access to potentially harmful content...

OpenAI, the $500bn San Francisco startup behind ChatGPT, one of the UK’s most popular chatbots, and xAI, which makes Grok, were approached for comment.