EU to probe Grok over sexualised deepfakes

26th Jan 2026 11:36

(Sharecast News) - The European Commission has launched an investigation into Grok, after Elon Musk's AI tool was used to create sexualised images of real people.

In a statement published on Monday, the Commission said its probe would assess whether X had "properly assessed and mitigated risks associated with the deployment of Grok's functionalities" on the social media platform across the 27-state European Union.

Those risks included disseminating illegal content, including that which could amount to child sexual abuse material, it added.

Grok is an advanced AI chatbot developed by another Musk-owned company, xAI, which is available on X, formerly Twitter, and as a standalone app. The tool caused widespread outrage earlier this month when it emerged it could be used to remove clothing from people in photos, including children, and put them in provocative poses without their consent.

Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy at the Commission, said: "Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation.

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

Companies face fines as much as 6% of their global annual turnover for DSA breaches.

The Commission's probe mirrors that of UK regulator Ofcom, which launched its own investigation earlier this month.

If found to have broken the law, Ofcom can potentially fine X up to 10% of its global revenues, or £18m, whichever is greater.

In response to the backlash, X said it had restricted image editing for Grok users. It also blocked users, based on their location, from generating images of people in revealing clothing in "jurisdictions where it's illegal", though it did not specify which countries. The chatbot remains widely available.