Elon Musk’s X Hit With EU Probe Over Sexual Deepfakes

EU regulators have launched a new investigation into Elon Musk’s X over concerns that its AI chatbot, Grok, generates and spreads sexually explicit deepfake images, including of children.

The European Commission announced the probe will examine whether X adequately assessed and mitigated the risks when rolling out Grok across the EU’s 27-member countries, including the potential dissemination of illegal content such as manipulated sexually explicit images. The investigation is being conducted under the EU’s sweeping Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes strict requirements on online platforms to police content deemed harmful by the government.

Grok has come under scrutiny for generating non-consensual sexual images of minors that would represent child sexual abuse material. Grok admitted in X posts that it had produced such imagery and acknowledged “lapses in safeguards” against it, according to the New York Post.

“Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation,” Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission executive vice president who oversees enforcement of the DSA, said in a statement Monday. “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.”

The DSA, which took effect in 2023, gives Brussels broad authority to police online platforms. Companies found in violation can be fined up to 6% of their annual global revenue for failing to address illegal content, curb so-called “disinformation” on their platforms, or comply with transparency rules.

The Grok investigation comes shortly after the EU fined X $140 million under the DSA in a separate enforcement action. In that case, regulators claimed the platform deceived users with its paid blue-check verification system and that it failed to provide adequate data access to researchers, among other allegations.

That earlier fine drew sharp criticism from U.S. officials, who argued the EU’s actions amount to an attack on free expression and American tech firms.

“The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage,” Vice President JD Vance posted on X shortly before the announcement of the penalty.

In the U.K., media regulator Ofcom has already opened a formal investigation into whether X violated the country’s Online Safety Act by allowing the AI to distribute sexualized images. Officials in France and India have also accused Grok of illegally creating sexualized images of people without consent.

U.S. State Department official Sarah B. Rogers, under secretary for public diplomacy, said “nothing is off the table” if the U.K. moves forward with a ban on the major social media platform.

X has defended its moderation practices, saying in an earlier statement that it has “zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, nonconsensual nudity and unwanted sexual content.”

“Legacy Media Lies,” a spokesperson for X simply responded when reached for comment by the Daily Caller News Foundation.