The makers of AI tools that can be used to create sexualized images without the subject’s consent will now be subject to heavy fines or service blockages in the United Kingdom. The crackdown comes after months of controversy over nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfake images created by users of xAI’s Grok chatbot. Malaysia and Indonesia blocked Grok in January and the French cybercrimes unit raided X’s Paris offices earlier this month. India and the European Union are investigating Grok as well. But here in the U.S., legislation restricting sexualized deepfake images has failed to gain traction, both at the federal level and in the New Mexico legislative session that ends today.
State Rep. Christine Chandler (D-43) introduced legislation that would have allowed a victim of a sexualized deepfake image to sue the person that made the image. Her legislation would not have gone after the platform like the U.K. law. But AI regulation wasn’t a priority for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham this session. She didn’t rule Chandler’s House Bill 22 germane, and it never saw a committee meeting.
It was the lack of federal AI regulation left Chandler with a sense of obligation to try to pass state legislation.
“Ideally, the federal government should be showing greater leadership in this arena," Chandler said. "But, like so many other things, when it comes to consumer protection, they are definitely lagging behind.”
Chandler said that even with all the international legal challenges, she doesn’t think that Grok founder and CEO Elon Musk will make the platform safer unless he’s forced too. Grok has made it more difficult for some users to create sexualized deepfake images, but critics say the measures don’t go far enough.
“I have not sensed from Elon Musk that he appreciates the need for social responsibility in this arena," Chandler said. "So there needs to be a move to enforce greater accountability."
Chandler said she came face-to-face with that need for accountability. She was contacted by a constituent who had been a victim of a sexualized deepfake image. For this woman it was a friend who had posted the images."
"This individual had placed her face on a body doing inappropriate things without her consent," Chandler said. "And as you might imagine, she was aghast and hurt and very upset.”
Grok is not the only AI chatbot capable of creating sexualized deepfake images but tech journalist Omar Gallaga said Grok’s connection to X makes it appealing for people who want to use the technology in that way. He said that Grok is known for having less guardrails than other AI chat bots like ChatGPT or Gemini.
"I think Musk in particular, and a lot of people on X like pushing those limits and getting attention and the publicity around it.”
U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), thinks that people like Musk seem to seek out controversy because it drives engagement and revenue on their platforms.
"Musk is, is saying that he was not aware that this was happening, which I call BS on," Lujan said. "I think he's absolutely lying to everyone that he was speaking to.”
Lujan was part of a coalition of Senators who wrote a letter to Apple and Google last month urging them to remove X and Grok from their app stores over the controversy. Lujan was also a cosponsor of the bipartisan Take it Down Act that President Donald Trump signed into law last year. That bill focuses on the distribution of nonconsensual sexual images but isn’t specific to AI-created images and isn’t targeted at platforms. Like Chandler’s state bill, the federal Defiance Act would let victims sue the people who create or share sexualized deepfake images, but, it wouldn’t hold platforms legally responsible the way some other countries are. That bill passed the Senate and is awaiting action from the U.S. House.
Although Chandler’s bill fell flat this session, she said AI regulation will be a priority for her next year. Chandler said with next year being a 60-day session, she’ll introduce legislation aimed at what she called “a whole litany of AI issues.”
