Starmer announces crackdown on AI chatbots in the UK

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that AI chatbots operating in the UK will be forced to abide by the rules of the recently implemented Online Safety Act.

On Monday 16 February, Starmer announced that he was taking immediate action to improve the safety of children online following the government’s recent action against Grok, the AI chatbot operated by Elon Musk’s X social media platform that, which was generating and sharing non-consensual intimate images.

Starmer said that the government would move fast to bring AI chatbot providers under the umbrella of the Online Safety Act, forcing them to abide by its provisions.

The Online Safety Act aims to protect children and young people online, and includes the requirement that any website or service providing adult content must implement robust age verification checks.

“The action we took on Grok sent a clear message that no platform gets a free pass,” Starmer said.

“Today we are closing loopholes that put children at risk, and laying the groundwork for further action.”

“We are acting to protect children’s wellbeing and help parents to navigate the minefield of social media,” he said.

Next month, the government will launch a children’s digital wellbeing consultation, which will look at how online safety can be improved for young people in the UK by speaking to both parents and children about the issue.

In addition to tightening restrictions on AI chatbots operating in the UK, Starmer also said the government would consider the following measures following the consultation:

• A minimum age limit for social media (following the lead of Australia, which has implemented a ban on social media for under-16s).
• Restricting fucntionality such as autoscroll or autoplay that keeps children absorbed in their screens.
• Limiting VPN access for children to make it more difficult for them to circumvent age verification measures.

Starmer said that the government is taking new legal powers to ensure that the outcomes of this consultation are implemented in months, not years.

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