The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X over concerns that its Grok artificial intelligence tool was used to generate sexualised deepfake images of real people.
The probe follows mounting public outcry and builds on earlier regulatory actions, including a separate investigation opened by the UK communications watchdog Ofcom earlier this month.
EU officials are examining whether X breached its obligations under the Digital Services Act by failing to adequately assess and mitigate risks linked to Grok’s rollout in the bloc.
If violations are confirmed, the platform could face fines of up to 6 percent of its global annual turnover.
The Commission said it would assess whether manipulated sexually explicit images were shown to users within the European Union and whether X implemented sufficient safeguards.
Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, described non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a “violent, unacceptable form of degradation”.
She said the investigation would determine whether X treated the rights of European citizens, including women and children, as collateral damage.
European lawmaker Regina Doherty said there were serious questions about whether platforms such as X were meeting their legal duties to prevent illegal and harmful content.
The Commission also noted it could impose interim measures if X fails to make meaningful adjustments to its service.
The EU inquiry comes amid broader international concern over Grok’s image-generation capabilities.
Regulators in Australia, France and Germany are also examining the chatbot, while Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines temporarily blocked access to the tool before restrictions were eased in some cases.
X has said it restricted Grok’s ability to edit images of people and blocked certain features in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.
EU officials acknowledged these changes but said they did not resolve all systemic risks, particularly given concerns that X did not carry out an ad hoc risk assessment before deploying Grok in Europe.
The Commission has simultaneously extended an investigation opened in December 2023 into X’s recommender systems, including its planned shift toward Grok-based recommendations.
The move follows recent EU fines against X over transparency and account verification practices, escalating tensions between Brussels and Washington.
U.S. officials have criticised the EU’s actions as targeting American technology firms, while EU regulators have insisted that no company operating in the bloc is above the law.