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The tech world\u2019s nonconsensual, sexualized deepfake problem is now bigger than just X.<\/p>\n
In a letter to the leaders of X, Meta, Alphabet, Snap, Reddit, and TikTok, several U.S. senators are asking the companies to provide proof that they have \u201crobust protections and policies\u201d in place and to explain how they plan to curb the rise of sexualized deepfakes on their platforms.<\/p>\n
The senators also demanded that the companies preserve all documents and information relating to the creation, detection, moderation, and monetization of sexualized, AI-generated images, as well as any related policies.<\/p>\n
The letter comes hours after X said it updated Grok to prohibit it from making edits of real people in revealing clothing and restricted image creation and edits via Grok to paying subscribers. (X and xAI are part of the same company.)<\/p>\n
Pointing to media reports about how easily and often Grok generated sexualized and nude images of women and children, the senators pointed out that platforms\u2019 guardrails to prevent users from posting nonconsensual, sexualized imagery may not be enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that many companies maintain policies against non-consensual intimate imagery and sexual exploitation, and that many AI systems claim to block explicit pornography. In practice, however, as seen in the examples above, users are finding ways around these guardrails. Or these guardrails are failing,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n
Grok, and consequently X, have been heavily criticized for enabling this trend, but other platforms are not immune.<\/p>\n
Techcrunch event<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> Deepfakes first gained popularity on Reddit, when a page displaying synthetic porn videos of celebrities went viral before the platform took it down in 2018. Sexualized deepfakes targeting celebrities and politicians have multiplied on TikTok and YouTube, though they usually originate elsewhere.<\/p>\n Meta\u2019s Oversight Board last year called out two cases of explicit AI images of female public figures, and the platform has had nudify apps selling ads on its services, though it did sue a company called CrushAI later. There have been multiple reports of kids spreading deepfakes of peers on Snapchat. And Telegram, which isn\u2019t included on the senators\u2019 list, has also become notorious for hosting bots built to undress photos of women.<\/p>\n In response to the letter, X pointed to its announcement regarding its update to Grok.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not and will not allow any non-consensual intimate media (NCIM) on Reddit, do not offer any tools capable of making it, and take proactive measures to find and remove it,\u201d a Reddit spokesperson said in an emailed statement. \u201cReddit strictly prohibits NCIM, including depictions that have been faked or AI-generated. We also prohibit soliciting this content from others, sharing links to \u201cnudify\u201d apps, or discussing how to create this content on other platforms,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n Alphabet, Snap, TikTok, and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n The letter demands the companies provide: <\/p>\n The letter is signed by Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).<\/p>\n The move comes just a day after xAI\u2019s owner Elon Musk said that he was \u201cnot aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.\u201d Later on Wednesday, California\u2019s attorney general opened an investigation into xAI\u2019s chatbot, following mounting pressure from governments across the world incensed by the lack of guardrails around Grok that allowed this to happen.<\/p>\n xAI has maintained that it takes action to remove \u201cillegal content on X, including [CSAM] and non-consensual nudity,\u201d though neither the company nor Musk have addressed the fact that Grok was allowed to generate such content in the first place.<\/p>\n The problem isn\u2019t constrained to nonconsensual manipulated sexualized imagery either. While not all AI-based image generation and editing services let users \u201cundress\u201d people, they do let one easily generate deepfakes. To pick a few examples, OpenAI\u2019s Sora 2 reportedly allowed users to generate explicit videos featuring children; Google\u2019s Nano Banana seemingly generated an image showing Charlie Kirk being shot; and racist videos made with Google\u2019s AI video model are garnering millions of views on social media.<\/p>\n The issue grows even more complex when Chinese image and video generators come into the picture. Many Chinese tech companies and apps \u2014 especially those linked to ByteDance \u2014 offer easy ways to edit faces, voices, and videos, and those outputs have spread to Western social platforms. China has stronger synthetic content labeling requirements that don\u2019t exist in the U.S. on the federal level, where the masses instead rely on fragmented and dubiously enforced policies from the platforms themselves.<\/p>\n U.S. lawmakers have already passed some legislation seeking to rein in deepfake pornography, but the impact has been limited. The Take It Down Act, which became federal law in May, is meant to criminalize the creation and dissemination of nonconsensual, sexualized imagery. But a number of provisions in the law make it difficult to hold image-generating platforms accountable, as they focus most of the scrutiny on individual users instead.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a number of states are trying to take matters into their own hands to protect consumers and elections. This week, New York governor Kathy Hochul proposed laws that would require AI-generated content to be labeled as such, and ban nonconsensual deepfakes in specified periods leading up to elections, including depictions of opposition candidates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n