EU ‘Very Seriously Looking’ Into Musk’s Grok AI Over Sexual Deepfakes of Minors

The European Commission said Monday it is “very seriously looking” into allegations that Grok, the artificial intelligence tool developed by Elon Musk, is being used to generate and spread sexually explicit images involving minors.

Concerns center on the use of Grok on Musk’s social media platform X, where complaints surfaced following the rollout of new image-editing capabilities late last month.

“Grok is now offering a 'spicy mode' showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with childlike images. This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling,” EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier told reporters.

“This has no place in Europe.”

The complaints began emerging after X introduced an “edit image” button for Grok in late December, expanding the generative AI tool’s capabilities. Soon after, users reported the creation and circulation of sexually exploitative images.

Earlier this month, Grok’s developer, xAI — which is run by Musk — said it was scrambling to fix flaws in the AI system.

In France, the public prosecutor’s office in Paris has expanded an existing investigation into X to include new allegations that Grok was being used to generate and disseminate child pornography.

X is already under scrutiny from European regulators. In December, Brussels fined the platform 120 million euros ($140 million) for violating EU digital content rules, including failures related to advertising transparency and user verification.

The company also remains under investigation under the EU’s Digital Services Act, following a probe launched in December 2023.

Separately, the European Commission, which serves as the EU’s digital watchdog, has demanded information from X regarding comments made about the Holocaust. Regnier confirmed that the company has responded to those requests.

“I think X is very well aware that we're very serious about DSA enforcement, they will remember the fine that they have received from us back in December. So we encourage all companies to be compliant because the commission is serious about enforcement,” he added.