The European Commission (EU) has officially escalated its regulatory scrutiny of Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, opening a formal investigation into Grok AI’s alleged role in sexual deepfakes.
This move comes after widespread international outrage regarding the chatbot’s ability to generate non-consensual sexually explicit imagery and potential child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), EU regulators are examining whether X failed to adequately assess and mitigate the systemic risks associated with its generative AI tools before deploying them to millions of users across the continent.
The probe centered on whether X bypassed critical safety protocols required for “Very Large Online Platforms” (VLOPs).
According to EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen, the creation of sexualized deepfakes of women and children represents a “violent and unacceptable form of degradation.”
If the site is found to have breached the rules of the EU under the Digital Services Act, the Commission could fine the company up to 6% of its global annual turnover.
Regina Doherty, a member of the European Parliament representing Ireland, said the Commission would assess whether “manipulated sexually explicit images” have been shown to users in the EU.
The EU regulator said it may “impose interim measures” if X refuses to implement meaningful adjustments after investigating Grok AI’s alleged role in sexual deepfakes.
Doherty said there were “serious questions” over whether platforms such as X were meeting legal obligations “to assess risks properly and to prevent illegal and harmful content from spreading”.
“The European Union has clear rules to protect people online,” she said.
“Those rules must mean something in practice, especially when powerful technologies are deployed at scale.
“No company operating in the EU is above the law.”
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy at the Commission called the sexual deepfakes a “violent, unacceptable form of degradation”.
“With this investigation, 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,” she said.
Also, other investigations into Grok AI’s alleged role in sexual deepfakes are underway in Australia, France, and Germany.
Grok was temporarily banned in Indonesia and Malaysia, although the latter has now lifted the ban.
Recall also that the move comes a month after the EU fined X €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges, saying they “deceive users” because the firm is not “meaningfully verifying” who is behind the account.
In response, the U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accused the EU regulator of attacking and censoring US firms.
“The European Commission’s fine isn’t just an attack on X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments,” he said.
