The UK government is closing a “loophole” in new online safety legislation that will make AI chatbots subject to its requirement to combat illegal material or face fines or even being blocked.

After the country’s government staunchly criticized Elon Musk’s X over sexually explicit content created by its chatbot Grok, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced new measures that mean chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot will be included in his government’s Online Safety Act.

The platforms will be expected to comply with “illegal content duties” or “face the consequences of breaking the law,” the announcement said.

This comes after the European Commission investigated Musk’s X in January for spreading sexually explicit images of children and other individuals. Starmer led calls for Musk to put a stop to it.

Earlier, Ofcom, the UK’s media watchdog, began an investigation into X reportedly spreading sexually explicit images of children and other individuals.

“The action we took on Grok sent a clear message that no platform gets a free pass,” Starmer said, announcing the latest measures. “We are closing loopholes that put children at risk, and laying the groundwork for further action.”

Starmer gave a speech on Monday on the new powers, which extend to setting minimum age limits for social media platforms, restricting harmful features such as infinite scrolling, and limiting children’s use of AI chatbots and access to VPNs.

One measure announced would force social media companies to retain data after a child’s death, unless the online activity is clearly unrelated to the death.

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

Alex Brown, head of TMT at law firm Simmons & Simmons, said the announcement shows how the government is taking a different approach to regulating rapidly developing technology.

“Historically, our lawmakers have been reluctant to regulate the technology and have rather sought to regulate its use cases and for good reason,” Brown said in a statement to CNBC.

He said that regulations focused on specific technology can age quickly and risk missing aspects of its use. Generative AI is exposing the limits of the Online Safety Act, which focuses on “regulating services rather than technology,” Brown said.

He said Starmer’s latest announcement showed the UK government wanted to address the dangers “that arise from the design and behaviour of technologies themselves, not just from user‑generated content or platform features,” he added.

There’s been heightened scrutiny around children and teenagers’ access to social media in recent months, with lawmakers citing mental health and wellbeing harms. In December, Australia became the first country to implement a law banning teens under 16 from social media.

Australia’s ban forced apps like Alphabet’s YouTube, Meta’s Instagram, and ByteDance’s TikTok to have age-verification methods such as uploading IDs or bank details to prevent under-16s from making accounts.

Spain became the first European country to enforce a ban earlier this month, with France, Greece, Italy, Denmark, and Finland also considering similar proposals.

The UK government launched a consultation in January on banning social media for under-16s.

Additionally, the country’s House of Lords, an unelected upper legislative chamber, voted last month to amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to include a social media ban for under-16s.

The next phase will see the bill reviewed by parliament’s the House of Commons. Both houses have to agree on any changes before they pass into law.

Dutch brewer Heineken is planning to lay off up to up to 7% of its workforce, as it looks to boost efficiency through productivity savings from AI, following weak beer sales last year.

The world’s second-largest brewer reported lackluster earnings on Wednesday, with total beer volumes declining 2.4% over the course of 2025, while adjusted operating profit was up 4.4%.

The company also said it plans to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 roles over the next two years and is targeting operating profit growth in the range of 2% to 6% this year. Heineken’s shares were last seen up 3.4%, and the stock is up nearly 7% so far this year.

Outgoing CEO Dolf van den Brink told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday that the results were due to “challenging market circumstances,” but performance was overall well-balanced.

Heineken’s outlook for 2026 comes in below the usual range but “is in line with buyside expectations and consistent with peer Carlsberg, and prudent in light of a new incoming,” UBS analysts said in a note on Wednesday.

Regarding the cuts, Van den Brink said: “Productivity has been a top priority in our evergreen strategy… we committed to 400 to 500 million euros ($476 million to $600 million) of savings on an annual basis, and this is a first operationalization of that debt commitment.”

The job reductions will help the brewer to invest in growth and in its premium brands, he said.

Van den Brink acknowledged that the cuts came “partly also due to AI, or let’s say digitization.”

“That’s a very big part of our EverGreen 2030 strategy, with around 3,000 roles moving to our business services, where technology digitization in general, and AI specifically, will be an important part of ongoing productivity savings,” he said.

The EverGreen 2030 strategy focuses on three core areas, including accelerating growth, increasing productivity, and future-fit.

The company, headquartered in the Netherlands, has 87,000 employees and operates in over 70 countries.

Van den Brink is due to step down from his leadership position in May after six years at the helm. Heineken is currently searching for a successor.

Alphabet’s shares closed largely flat on Thursday after the company beat Wall Street’s expectations on earnings and revenue, with artificial intelligence spending projected to increase hugely this year.

The Google parent closed nearly 2% lower on Wednesday. After the bell, Alphabet reported fourth-quarter revenue of $113.83 billion, above the $111.43 billion estimate from analysts polled by LSEG.

Its Google Cloud division had $17.66 billion in revenue versus a forecast of $16.18 billion, according to StreetAccount. YouTube Advertising posted $11.38 billion in revenue versus the estimated $11.84 billion.

The tech giant said it would significantly increase its 2026 capital expenditure to between $175 billion and $185 billion — more than double its 2025 spend. A significant portion of capex spending would go toward investing in AI compute capacity for Google DeepMind.