X CEO Elon Musk has said he was not aware of any "naked underage images" generated by xAI's Grok chatbot, as scrutiny of the AI tool intensifies worldwide. "I [am] not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero," Musk said in an X post on Wednesday. Musk reiterated that Grok is programmed to refuse illegal requests and must comply with the laws of any given country or state. "Obviously, Grok does not spontaneously generate images, it does so only according to user requests," Musk said.

Criminals have claimed to have used Grok to create the imagery on a dark web forum. Criminals have claimed to have used Grok to create the imagery on a dark web forum. Online criminals are claiming to have used Elon Musk's Grok AI tool to create sexual imagery of children, as a child safety watchdog warned the technology risked bringing such material into the mainstream. The UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said users of a dark web forum boasted of using Grok Imagine to create sexualised and topless imagery of girls aged between 11 and 13. IWF analysts said the images would be considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) under UK law.

Chernobyl radiation shield'lost safety function' after drone strike, UN watchdog says A protective shield covering the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine can no longer provide its main containment function following a drone strike earlier this year, according to a UN watchdog. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors found that the massive structure, built over the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, had lost its primary safety functions including the confinement capability. In February, Ukraine accused Russia of targeting the power plant - a claim the Kremlin denied. The IAEA said repairs were essential to prevent further degradation of the nuclear shelter. However environmental expert Jim Smith told the BBC: It is not something to panic about.

Adverts for Nike, Superdry and Lacoste have been banned for making misleading claims about their green credentials. The UK's advertising watchdog challenged the brands over the use of the word sustainable in paid-for Google ads which were not backed up by evidence of their sustainability. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) identified three adverts from the retailers promising customers sustainable materials, sustainable style and sustainable clothing. The UK's advertising code states that the basis of claims about environmental sustainability must be clear and supported by a high level of substantiation. In each case, it asked the companies for evidence to back up the claims about the sustainability of the products.

How to make sure you're getting a good deal on Black Friday Whether you're excited for the seasonal sales or avoiding the shops altogether, it's hard to escape the countless emails and social media adverts on Black Friday deals. The US holiday - which falls this Friday - has been firmly adopted by UK retailers, and what was once a single day of sales now spans the weeks before and after. However eight in 10 deals promoted during this buying bonanza were cheaper or the same price outside of the four-week Black Friday period, according to research from consumer group Which? This suggests shoppers could get the same or a better deal at other times of the year. But if you're planning to buy now, here's how to make sure you bag a bargain.

Adverts by four of Britain's biggest hotel and travel firms have been banned for stating misleading minimum prices for rooms. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints against the Hilton hotel group, Travelodge, Booking.com and Accor over their use of eye-catching so-called from prices. The watchdog found only a small number of rooms actually available to book at the promoted price and concluded the adverts overstated the deals. It said this was unfair on those looking for good deals or seeking to make informed choices about where to book. ASA operations manager Emily Henwood said: Advertised prices must match what's really available.

The Netherlands's data protection watchdog has cautioned citizens against consulting with artificial intelligence on how to vote, warning that popular chatbots provide a "highly distorted and polarised view" of politics. The Dutch Data Protection Authority said on Tuesday that an increasing number of voters were using AI to help decide who to vote for, despite the models offering "unreliable and clearly biased" advice. The research found that the chatbots more often recommended parties on the fringes of the political spectrum when asked to identify the three choices that best matched the policy preferences of 1,500 fictitious voter profiles. In more than half of cases, the AI models identified the hard-right Party for Freedom (PVV) or left-wing Green Left-Labour Party as the top choice, the watchdog said. Parties closer to the political middle ground - such as the right-leaning People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the centre-left Democrats 66 - were recommended much less often, according to the watchdog.

The AI-generated summaries created in Google searches have'detrimental effects on Italian users, consumers and businesses', according to FIEG. The AI-generated summaries created in Google searches have'detrimental effects on Italian users, consumers and businesses', according to FIEG. Italian news publishers demand investigation into Google's AI Overviews Newspaper federation says'traffic killer' feature violates legislation and threatens to destroy media diversity Thu 16 Oct 2025 08.53 EDTLast modified on Thu 16 Oct 2025 10.23 EDT Italian news publishers are calling for an investigation into Google's AI Overviews, arguing that the search engine's AI-generated summaries feature is a "traffic killer" that threatens their survival. FIEG, the Italian federation of newspaper publishers, said it has submitted a formal complaint to Agcom, Italy's communications watchdog. Similar complaints have been filed in other EU countries.

The CMA has proposed ensuring fair ranking of search results on Google and providing more control for publishers over how their content is used. The CMA has proposed ensuring fair ranking of search results on Google and providing more control for publishers over how their content is used. CMA puts Google under tighter regulation with'strategic market status' designation and can enforce changes Fri 10 Oct 2025 06.53 EDTLast modified on Fri 10 Oct 2025 07.47 EDT Google faces enforced changes to its UK search business after the competition watchdog conferred a special status on the company that puts it under tighter regulation. The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) confirmed that Google has "strategic market status" (SMS) in search and search advertising, a term that means the company has such market power that it requires a special regulatory regime. The watchdog now has the power under new digital laws to order changes to how Google operates in those areas.

Rishi Sunak has taken up senior part-time advisor roles at tech giant Microsoft and artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic. The former prime minister has been told he must not lobby ministers on behalf of the companies by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), an independent watchdog which oversees the activities of former government figures. Sunak - who remains the MP for Richmond and Northallerton - will donate payments for the jobs to a charity he recently founded, the watchdog said. During his premiership, Sunak made tech regulation a significant priority, setting up an AI safety summit in 2023. In letters of advice sent to Sunak by Acoba and published on Thursday, his role at Microsoft was described as providing high-level strategic perspectives on geopolitical trends.