Europe Opens an Investigation Into Elon Musk's Grok

Elon Musk's latest trouble over Grok isn't done. European regulators launched a formal inquiry on Monday into sexualized images generated by the AI bot on Musk's X platform, reports Reuters. The European Commission—the executive arm of the European Union—will examine whether X failed to abide by the EU's Digital Services Act in failing to curb the spread of such images, per CNBC. Regulators say the problem began in late December, when simple prompts to Grok led to altered images of real people—among them minors.

"Nonconsensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation," Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission executive vice president, said in a statement. "We will determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it treated rights of European citizens—including those of women and children—as collateral damage of its service." The New York Times suggests the move might lead to an eventual clash between Europe and the US over how online content is regulated.

The commission did not set a timeline but noted it can order interim fixes if it sees "no meaningful adjustments." After the first wave of images surfaced, Musk's xAI company said it no longer allows Grok to alter photos of real people.