Minister for Communications and Media Patrick O'Donovan has dismissed claims that the Government is taking a soft approach to policing Grok and the AI-generation of sexualised images of women and children.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with David McCullagh programme, he said that he took offence to claims that the Government was not taking this seriously.
"That's rubbish, to be quite honest about it," he said.
"I take offence to that. I don't think that anybody sitting around the cabinet table would want to have any suggestion that there's a lax attitude being taken towards the abuse of children.
"I think that that's utter rubbish," he added.
Minister O'Donovan confirmed that media regulator Coimisiún na Meán will meet with the European Commission today to discuss the response to AI-generated sexualised images.
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The Limerick TD said it is not his role as minister to tell the regulator what to do.
"The existing law allows for action to be taken by An Garda Síochána and Coimisiún na Meán," he said.
He said there is an interaction between the regulator and gardaí whereby the regulator will bring any material "that is in the criminal field" to the attention of An Garda Síochána for it to initiate an investigation.
"That is the appropriate course of action and ultimately this will play out in the courts," he added.
TD calls for ban on download of Grok
Meanwhile, Labour TD Marie Sherlock called for a ban on the download of X's AI platform Grok from mobile app stores, describing X as a "despicable place".
Also speaking on Today with David McCullagh, the Dublin Central TD said the action must be taken because the Government "is always behind the curve" and investigations take time to reach a conclusion.
Ms Sherlock said existing AI legislation in place here from the EU is "very weak" and needs to be changed, saying there are ways around the geo-block being applied to the app in Ireland.
"As a very simple initiative this week, my colleague Alan Kelly was saying, the Government needs to move now to actually block the use of Grok in this country.
"To move block the app store actually selling or facilitating the download of the Grok app."
AI Minister to meet with X representatives
It comes as Minister of State with responsibility for ArtificiaI Intelligence Niamh Smyth is due to meet representatives of the social media platform X to discuss its measures to tackle the generation of sexualised images of women and children by its AI chatbot Grok.
Minister Smyth held a meeting with the Attorney General yesterday to ensure there were no legal loopholes for X or any other platform to allow AI tools to undress images of real people.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One, Ms Smyth said the purpose of her meeting with the AG was to "give myself and the Government absolute confidence in the fact that the laws that we have in place here in Ireland do protect our citizens in every way possible".
Yesterday, X confirmed it will "geoblock" the ability of all Grok and X users to create images of people in "bikinis, underwear, and similar attire" in jurisdictions where such actions are deemed illegal.
The move follows widespread outrage over features that allowed users to digitally undress images of people.
Labour TD Alan Kelly confirmed yesterday that X has been invited to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Media on 4 February.
Meanwhile, a senior counsel specialising in media, data protection and commercial law said it is essential that the European Commission works together with Coimisiún na Meán to take EU-wide action against AI apps that generate sexually explicit images.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ronan Lupton said this approach would mean that action taken would be comprehensive, rather than being "a patchwork" of different measures across the EU.
Mr Lupton said the best possible outcome is that Coimisiún na Meán, specifically the Internet Safety Commissioner and the Digital Services Content Commissioner, work closely with the European Commission.
Mr Lupton said that interim measures are required to ban Grok from allowing nudification and allowing content to be created by users "who are effectively acting nefariously".
He added that generating explicit sexual images of people without their consent is against the law.
However, authorities would have to discover evidence in order to prosecute offenders, he said, adding that there are "civil remedies" that could also be used to tackle the issue.
Mr Lupton said there are other AI apps that can generate sexually explicit images that could be breaking the law.
"We have a category of position which is lawful but awful, and that may be the content is subject to perhaps standards which may not breach the law fully, but ultimately if it does things which fundamentally gives rise to harassment or other forms of criminal offence, then it's breaking the law."
He added that his view is that the social media platform X has been "in decay" since being purchased by Elon Musk and that the images generated by Grok AI represent "deleterious content and bad for society".
"I'm not saying that as someone who believes that we should take a sledgehammer to X or any other platform for that matter.
"Freedom of expression is a very important right," he said.
