The European Union has launched a formal investigation into X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, following widespread concern over sexually explicit images generated by its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.
The probe, announced by the European Commission on Monday, will examine whether X adequately assessed and mitigated the risks associated with deploying Grok’s image-generation features within the EU.
The investigation comes after reports late last year that the chatbot produced sexualised images of women and children in response to user prompts, sparking global outrage.
In response to the backlash, X initially restricted Grok’s image-generation capabilities to paying subscribers before later blocking the creation of revealing images of real people altogether.
Despite these measures, EU officials say questions remain about whether sufficient safeguards were in place before the tool was released.
Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president responsible for technology, security and democracy, said sexual deepfakes involving women and children constitute a serious violation of rights.
She noted that the investigation would determine whether X met its legal obligations under EU law or failed to adequately protect users.
The inquiry is being conducted under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires large technology platforms to take stronger action against illegal and harmful online content.
Commission officials said there is no fixed timeline for concluding the investigation, but penalties, including fines, are possible if violations are confirmed.
X, when contacted for comment, referred to an earlier statement in which it said it removes high-priority violative content, including child sexual abuse material and non-consensual nudity, and cooperates with law enforcement where necessary.
EU officials acknowledged that X has taken steps to limit misuse of Grok but said the platform appeared not to have properly evaluated the risks before launching the chatbot.
One official said the Commission’s aim was to change platform behaviour rather than simply impose punishment.
The investigation follows other regulatory actions against X.
In December, the EU fined the platform approximately $140 million for breaches of the Digital Services Act related to the design of its verification system.
Separately, authorities in the United States, including California’s attorney general, have opened inquiries into the spread of non-consensual explicit material generated using Grok.
Several countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, have banned Grok, while the UK media regulator Ofcom has also launched a formal investigation into X over the issue.
