The European Commission has initiated formal proceedings against Elon Musk's social media platform X, focusing on the potential risks posed by its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok. The investigation, launched under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), centers on concerns that Grok may have generated deepfake images, including material that could amount to child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Regulators are specifically examining whether X failed to properly identify, assess, and mitigate systemic risks associated with deploying Grok across the EU's 27 member states. Officials highlighted that the AI tool appeared to generate sexualized images of women and minors, raising alarms about the spread of illegal and harmful content. EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen stated, "Non-consensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation."
The probe has been expanded to include an existing review of X's recommender systems, following platform changes that shifted more control to Grok AI. Authorities noted that X introduced these algorithmic adjustments without supplying a required risk assessment, raising new questions about whether the updated system increases exposure to manipulated images. The investigation will evaluate if Grok influences content ranking in ways that heighten risks and if X applied proper safety checks before changing its algorithms.
This action signals a broader intensification of EU oversight on advanced AI tools and follows a recent €120 million ($142 million) penalty against X for earlier DSA violations related to transparency and its verification system. Under the DSA, X could face fines of up to 6% of its global annual turnover if found non-compliant.
The EU's move adds to a growing international backlash against Grok, with regulators in the United Kingdom, France, and India also raising concerns or launching their own investigations into the chatbot's outputs. The situation has intensified the debate on regulating emerging AI systems and exposed potential structural gaps in current oversight frameworks.
