EU Probes Musk’s Grok Over Sexual AI Deepfakes

The European Union(EU) has opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X over its Artificial Intelligence chatbot Grok, following concerns that the tool has been used to generate sexualised deepfake images of women and minors.

The probe comes after reports revealed that users could manipulate images using simple text prompts to digitally undress women and children or place them in sexualised contexts. EU officials have described such practices as unacceptable and harmful.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would not tolerate abuses that violate consent and endanger children, stressing that the damage caused by illegal and exploitative images is real and cannot be left to the discretion of tech companies.

“In Europe, we will not tolerate unthinkable behaviour, such as the digital undressing of women and children.

“It is simple, we will not hand over consent and child protection to tech companies to violate and monetise. The harm caused by illegal images is very real,” she said in a statement to AFP.

EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen said the investigation would assess whether X has complied with its obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s landmark law governing major online platforms. She added that the rights of women and children must not be compromised by digital services.

Brussels said it is examining whether X took sufficient steps to reduce the spread of illegal content in the EU, including manipulated sexually explicit material that could amount to child sexual abuse content.

The move comes despite repeated warnings from the United States against strict enforcement of EU tech regulations, which Washington argues restrict free speech and disproportionately target American companies.

Earlier this month, Grok announced it would limit image generation and editing features to paid subscribers, but the EU said this measure did not prevent further regulatory action. Similar probes have already been launched in countries including France and the United Kingdom.

As part of the new action, the EU said it is expanding an existing investigation into X over the spread of illegal content and information manipulation. The decision follows X’s announcement that Grok will now power its recommendation system, raising concerns that risks were not properly assessed.