The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk-owned social media platform X over concerns that its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, was used to generate sexually explicit deepfake images of real individuals.
The investigation follows similar action taken by the UK communications regulator Ofcom in January and will assess whether X has breached its obligations under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). If violations are confirmed, the company could face fines of up to 6 percent of its global annual revenue.
X has previously stated that it blocked Grok from digitally altering images of people to remove clothing in jurisdictions where such content is illegal. However, EU regulators remain concerned about whether these safeguards were effective and properly enforced.
Irish Member of the European Parliament Regina Doherty said the Commission will examine whether manipulated sexually explicit images were made accessible to users within the EU. Campaigners and victims have strongly criticised the technology, arguing that AI systems should never have been allowed to generate such content.
The Commission warned it could impose interim measures if X fails to introduce meaningful protections. It has also expanded a separate investigation, launched in December 2023, into risks linked to X’s content recommendation algorithms.
Despite mounting scrutiny, Musk has publicly mocked new restrictions related to Grok and has accused regulators, including the UK government, of using the issue as a pretext for censorship.
X recently claimed that Grok generated more than 5.5 billion images within a 30-day period. Several countries, including Australia, France and Germany, are also examining the chatbot’s operations. Grok was temporarily banned in Indonesia and Malaysia, although Malaysia has since lifted the restriction.
European Commission Executive Vice-President for Technology Henna Virkkunen described AI-generated sexual deepfakes as a harmful and degrading practice, stating that the investigation would determine whether X fulfilled its legal responsibilities and adequately protected users, particularly women and children.
The move comes weeks after the EU fined X €120 million over concerns that its blue-tick verification system misled users. Meanwhile, U.S. officials have criticised the EU’s actions, accusing European regulators of unfairly targeting American technology companies—claims echoed by Musk in posts on X.
Source: AP/ BBC/ DS
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
