Global privacy regulators warn generative AI firms over nonconsensual realistic images

A coalition of more than 60 data protection authorities from 61 countries issued a joint warning to developers and deployers of generative AI image/video systems, emphasizing that privacy and data protection laws apply when tools can create realistic depictions of identifiable people. Regulators cited risks including nonconsensual intimate imagery, defamatory depictions, cyberbullying, and heightened harms to children and other vulnerable groups, and called for robust safeguards by design and proactive engagement with regulators.

The warning followed public backlash and regulatory scrutiny tied to xAI’s Grok generating and sharing large volumes of “nudified” images of real people; reporting also noted that the UK ICO and Ireland’s DPC opened formal probes into xAI over alleged creation of sexual images without consent. Separately, the UK government signaled tougher enforcement on platforms hosting intimate images shared without consent, including a requirement to remove such content within 48 hours or face significant penalties, reinforcing the broader regulatory direction toward faster takedowns and stronger controls around AI-enabled image abuse.