Prince Harry & Meghan slam Elon Musk’s xAI over Grok AI deepfake features
New Delhi: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have publicly criticized Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence firm, xAI, for fighting a new Minnesota law created to stop AI-generated nude and explicit deepfake pictures.
What Harry and Meghan said
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared a statement on their official website. They wrote,”Big Tech has taken shocking steps to limit restrictions on or accountability for these objectively predatory A.I. product features.”
They did not say Elon Musk’s name directly, but they called him the “trillionaire leader of the tech company responsible for X’s Grok.” Grok is an AI tool made by Musk’s company, xAI.
The couple also stated,”The company is mitigating risk to their bottom line instead of aggressively responding to the clear evidence their product features are enabling predators to prey on women and children.”
Musk’s AI tool faces legal trouble
Harry and Meghan pointed to several court cases involving Grok. These include lawsuits from a British politician named Jess Asato, a family from Arkansas, and five children from Tennessee. All of them say the AI tool was used to make fake, sexually explicit pictures of them without their permission.
Ms. Asato said fake pictures and videos showing her in harmful situations were created and posted online without her consent.
The new Minnesota law
The debate is over a new state law in Minnesota signed by Governor Tim Walz. This law stops apps and websites from letting users make fake nude or sexual pictures of real people without asking first.
Companies that break this law can be fined up to $500,000 for each violation. It also lets victims and state lawyers sue the creators.
Harry and Meghan supported this law, as well as similar rules passed in Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and California.
In response, xAI filed papers in court saying it agrees that fake nude images should be banned, but claims Minnesota’s law is too strict. The company says it already tries to block these images and should not be punished if users break past its security blocks.
Judge denies xAI’s request
xAI asked a federal court to delay the law from taking effect, but U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank denied the request. The judge pointed out that xAI filed its challenge just days before the law went into effect, even though the bill had been signed months earlier.
A court meeting to discuss the case further is set for August 19 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Curated by- Ramansh Dhadwal