Harry and Meghan vs Elon Musk: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex hit out at AI practices

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have called out Big Tech including billionaire Elon Musk, criticizing companies who "retaliate against basic safety measures to keep children safe."

Prince Harry and Meghan made their stance clear in an official statement titled, "Can we all agree technology should not enable predators to target children?" where they believe tech companies are thinking about profit and are failing to keep women and young people safe online.

The royal couple also praised the recent decision by the state of Minnesota made to ban AI "nudification" technology, with the Senate voting 65-0 to introduce the landmark legislation, a first nationwide in the US.

"The Minnesota law is an example of leadership fit for the digital age: a bi-partisan decision to stop technology from enabling predatory behavior disproportionately targeting women and children," they said in the statement.

"Even in a state with many differences of opinions, it was not controversial. It was unanimously agreed that this technology, if not stopped, would protect predators and hurt innocent people, especially women and girls."

They also referenced US Congress passing of the Take It Down Act which "criminalizes the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images and AI-generated deepfakes, and requires online platforms to remove them," the bipartisan legislation was signed by President Trump last year, and advocated by First Lady Melania Trump.

But Prince Harry and Meghan noted more needs to be done as "Still more bills are sitting," and referenced the Defiance Act which would "would create a civil right of action for survivors of nonconsensual deepfakes" which has passed by the Senate twice but has yet to make it to a vote on the House floor.

"This begs the question: why the delay?" they asked, and accused the tech industry of "pushback on these bills to protect their bottom line."

Not calling X owner Elon Musk by name, Prince Harry and Meghan blasted "the trillionaire leader of the tech company responsible for X's Grok" for suing the Minnesota state to try and "stop the law from going into place."

(L-R) Meghan, Prince Harry and Elon Musk Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images, and Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

This condemnation comes after Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, sued Minnesota over the ban last week. Although acknowledging the the state had the right to block AI from being used to create sexualized content, it argued the law "extends far beyond that goal and believes it's possibly a freedom of speech violation."

"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," the Sussexes said, making their opinions on xAI abundantly clear.

A federal judge has denied xAI's request to block the law on July 31, but a hearing is set to take place on August 19 to decided if a preliminary injunction should be granted, as reported by NBC News.

Grok described by xAI as "designed to be maximally truthful, useful, and curious" was embroiled in scandal over reports the AI chatbot was being used to ‘undress’ images of women and children and create sexualized deepfakes of people without their consent, which led to government and regulators around the world cracking down on the illegal material.

"Big Tech companies are raising billions claiming AI will bring society forward, yet they retaliate against basic safety measures to keep children safe," Prince Harry and Meghan said to conclude their statement. "Can AI make our world better while it enables the worst in humans? Should our children pay the price while we wait to find out?"

It's not the first time the Sussexes have been outspoken in criticising how tech companies treat child safety on their platforms.

Speaking out after the chief executives of Meta, TikTok, X and other social media giants gave evidence before the US Senate Judiciary Committee in 2024, the couple released a statement.

"We applaud the bravery and determination of the thousands of parents around the country whose advocacy resulted in this hearing," they said at the time.

“Over the past few years we have spent time with many of these families, listening to their heartache and their hopes for the urgent change that is needed in the online space.

“This is an issue that transcends division and party lines, as we saw today at the Senate hearing. The best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these platforms.”

They added: “As one of the fathers shared with us: ‘If love could have saved them, all of our children would still be here’.

“This is not the time to pass the buck of responsibility. It’s the time to make necessary change at the source to keep our children safe."

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