The European Union opened a proper 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 suggestion systems after the platform said it might switch to Grok’s AI system to decide on which posts users see.
The scrutiny from Brussels comes after Grok sparked a worldwide 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 incorporate 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 resembling “manipulated sexually explicit images.”
That features 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 residents to “serious harm.”
Regulators will examine whether Grok resides as much as its obligations under the Digital Services Act, the bloc’s wide-ranging rule book for keeping web users protected from harmful content and products.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and all over the world, join for breaking news alerts delivered on to you once they occur.
In response to a request for comment, an X spokeswoman directed The Associated Press to an earlier statement that the corporate stays “committed to creating X a protected platform for everybody” and that it has “zero tolerance” for child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.
The X statement from Jan. 14 also said it might stop allowing users to depict people in “bikinis, underwear or other revealing attire,” but only in places where it has been deemed illegal.
“Non-consensual sexual deepfakes of ladies and kids are a violent, unacceptable type of degradation,” Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice chairman on the commission, said in an announcement.
“With this investigation, we are going to determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it treated rights of European residents — including those of ladies and kids – as collateral damage of its service,” said Virkkunen, who oversees tech sovereignty, security and democracy.
Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI launched Grok’s image tool last summer. But the issue began snowballing only late last month when Grok seemingly granted a lot of user requests to switch images posted by others.
The issue was amplified each because Musk pitches his chatbot as an edgier alternative with fewer safeguards than rivals, and since Grok’s responses on X are publicly visible, and might due to this fact be easily spread.
The EU investigation covers only Grok’s service on X, and never Grok’s website and standalone app. That’s since the DSA applies only to the largest online platforms.
There’s no deadline for the bloc to resolve the case, which could end in either X pledging to alter its behavior or a hefty high quality.
In December Brussels issued X with a 120-million euro (then-$140 million) high quality as a part of the sooner ongoing DSA investigation, for shortcomings including blue checkmarks that broke the principles on “deceptive design practices” that risked exposing users to scams and manipulation.
The bloc has also been scrutinizing X over allegations that Grok generated antisemitic material and has asked the location for more information.
Malaysia and Indonesia blocked access to Grok earlier this month in response to the controversy, becoming the primary countries to achieve this.
On Friday, Malaysian authorities said they lifted the temporary restriction after the corporate implemented additional security and preventive measures, without giving further details. Malaysian regulators said they met last week with X’s representatives and would proceed to observe the situation.
© 2026 The Canadian Press