EU investigating Musk’s X platform over AI chatbot Grok sexual deepfakes

The European Union opened a formal investigation into social media platform X on Monday after artificial intelligence chatbot Grok spewed non-consensual sexualized deepfake images.

The European Union opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk‘s social media platform X on Monday after his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok spewed non-consensual sexualized deepfake images on the platform.

European regulators also widened a separate, ongoing investigation into X’s recommendation systems after the platform said it would switch to Grok’s AI system to choose which posts users see.

The scrutiny from Brussels comes after Grok sparked a global backlash by allowing users through its AI image generation and editing capabilities to undress people, putting females in transparent bikinis or revealing clothing.

Researchers said some images appeared to include children. Some governments banned the service or issued warnings.

The 27-nation EU’s executive said it was looking into whether X has done enough as required by the bloc’s digital regulations to contain the risks of spreading illegal content such as “manipulated sexually explicit images.”

That includes content that “may amount to child sexual abuse material,” the European Commission said. These risks have now “materialized,” the commission said, exposing the bloc’s citizens to “serious harm.”

Regulators will examine whether Grok is living up to its obligations under the Digital Services Act, the bloc’s wide-ranging rule book for keeping internet users safe from harmful content and products.

In response to a request for comment, an X spokeswoman directed The Associated Press to an earlier statement that the company remains “committed to making X a safe platform for everyone” and that it has “zero tolerance” for child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.