EU investigates Elon Musk's X over Grok AI sexual deepfakes

The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk's X over concerns its AI tool Grok was used to create sexualised images of real people.

It follows a similar announcement in January from the UK watchdog Ofcom.

If the site is found to have breached the rules of EU's under the Digital Services Act, the Commission could fine the company up to 6% of its global annual turnover.

A previous statement from X's Safety account said the social media platform had stopped Grok from digitally altering pictures of people to remove their clothing in "jurisdictions where such content is illegal".

Regina Doherty, a member of the European parliament representing Ireland, said the Commission would assess whether "manipulated sexually explicit images" have been shown to users in the EU.

Campaigners and victims said the ability to generate sexually explicit pictures using the tool should have "never happened", and Ofcom said its investigation would remain ongoing.

The EU regulator said it may "impose interim measures" if X refuses to implement meaningful adjustments.

It said it had also extended its ongoing investigation launched in December 2023 over risks associated with X's recommender systems - the algorithm that recommends specific posts to users.

Before the Commission's announcement, Elon Musk posted a picture on X on Monday appearing to make light of the new restrictions in place around Grok.

The X owner has previously criticised those scrutinising the app's image-editing function - particularly the UK government - calling it "any excuse for censorship".

On Sunday, the Grok account on X claimed more than 5.5 billion images were generated by the tool in just 30 days.

'Unacceptable form of degradation'

Other investigations into the platform's chatbot are underway in Australia, France and Germany.

Grok was temporarily banned in Indonesia and Malaysia, although the latter has now lifted the ban.

Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy at the Commission called the sexual deepfakes a "violent, unacceptable form of degradation".

"With this investigation, we will determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it treated rights of European citizens - including those of women and children - as collateral damage of its service," she said.

In a statement to Reuters, Doherty said there were "serious questions" over if platforms such as X were meeting legal obligations "to assess risks properly and to prevent illegal and harmful content from spreading".

"The European Union has clear rules to protect people online," she said.

"Those rules must mean something in practice, especially when powerful technologies are deployed at scale.

"No company operating in the EU is above the law."

Andrea Simon, the Director of End Violence Against Women Coalition, told the BBC that "given the evolving nature of AI-generated harm", the accountability "should not stop" with X removing content.

"We expect the UK government to do more to ensure tech platforms can't profit from online abuse, like building on the Online Safety Act so it's fit for purpose," she added.

The move comes a month after the EU fined X €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges, saying they "deceive users" because the firm is not "meaningfully verifying" who is behind the account.

In response, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accused the EU regulator of attacking and censoring US firms.

"The European Commission's fine isn't just an attack on X, it's an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments," he said.

His remarks were reposted by Musk, who added "absolutely".