X Faces EU Investigation Over Grok's Sexualized Deepfakes

X is under investigation by the European Commission for sexually explicit deepfake content generated by its Grok AI chatbot. The Commission announced it will assess whether X "properly evaluated and mitigated the risks associated with Grok's image generation capabilities in the EU," as previously reported by The New York Times.

Advocacy groups and legislators worldwide have raised alarms about Grok's AI image editing features, which began responding to requests to generate sexualized images of women and minors on the platform. X later disabled the ability to edit images in public replies to posts, but users can still generate images through Grok's chatbot interface within X.

The European Commission will evaluate whether X violated the Digital Services Act (DSA), a set of regulations that hold large online platforms legally accountable for the content they host. The EU will also expand its broader 2023 investigation into X to include an examination of the platform's Grok-based recommendation system (the EU had previously fined X $140 million for "deceptive" blue checkmarks as part of that inquiry).

In a press release, European Commission Executive Vice President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager, stated: "Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a form of violent and unacceptable insult." "Through this investigation, we will determine whether X has fulfilled its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it has treated the rights of European citizens—including women and children—as collateral damage for its services."

If found in violation of the DSA again, X could face fines of up to 6% of its global annual revenue.