Monday briefing: How Elon Musk’s Grok is being used as a tool for digital sexual abuse

In today’s newsletter: The chatbot is being used to digitally undress photos of women and children. What can politicians actually do to stop it, and what does it say about our control of the internet?Good morning. Last week, the UK technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said: “We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these demeaning and degrading images, which are disproportionately aimed at women and girls.” Her words came in reaction to the growing scandal of Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool being used to digitally undress photos of women and children to create public deepfaked sexualised images of them without their consent.The row rumbled on through the weekend, with the deputy prime minister, David Lammy, telling the Guardian on Saturday that JD Vance, the US vice-president, agreed that the proliferation of AI-generated sexualised images of women and children was “entirely unacceptable”. Other government ministers insisted a ban on X was a possibility and Musk fired back that “they just want to suppress free speech”.Iran | Iran has warned the US not to attack in support of protests that have rocked the country, with hundreds killed, as Donald Trump weighed the options for a response from Washington.Politics | David Lammy has suggested the court backlog of nearly 80,000 trials could be cleared in a decade if parliament agrees to slash the number that require a jury.Europe | The EU is reportedly demanding guarantees the UK will compensate the bloc if a future government reneges on the Brexit “reset” agreement that Keir Starmer is negotiating, with diplomats calling it the “Farage clause”.Cuba | Donald Trump has told Cuba to “make a deal” or face unspecified consequences, adding that no more Venezuelan oil or money would flow to the communist-run Caribbean island that has been a US foe for decades.Cryptocurrency | Downing Street has been urged to ban all political donations in cryptocurrency in the forthcoming elections bill amid concern that it could be used by foreign states to influence politics. Continue reading…Technology | The GuardianRead More