Taylor Swift Searches Restored on X

Elon Musk’s X has reactivated the ability to search its social network for musician Taylor Swift, after disabling queries for her name in response to a flood of explicit deepfake images.

"Search has been re-enabled and we will continue to be vigilant for attempts to spread this content and will remove it wherever we find it,” said Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X.

Last week, explicit artificial intelligence-generated images of Swift amassed tens of millions of views on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. X’s efforts to curb their spread included disabling the search. She wasn’t alone in being a recent high-profile target of the technology: US President Joe Biden was also the victim of a fake audio clip spreading online, created with the help of widely available AI tools.

Swift, who was seen Sunday in Baltimore celebrating with her boyfriend’s NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs, has made no public comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s X said it will hire 100 full-time staffers to crack down on child sexual exploitation after AI-generated photos of Taylor Swift went viral on the social network last week.

The San Francisco-based company formerly known as Twitter announced on Friday that it will build a “trust and safety center” in Austin, Texas where it will hire “in-house agents” who will be tasked with enforcing the site’s content and safety rules.