The European Commission has opened a new formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X, focusing on the risks linked to its AI chatbot Grok under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The investigation comes after concerns that Grok may have generated sexualised deepfake images of women and minors. EU regulators will examine whether X properly assessed and reduced the risks before deploying Grok’s features within the European Union.
According to the Commission, the probe will specifically look at the spread of illegal content, including manipulated sexually explicit images that could amount to child sexual abuse material. Authorities want to determine whether X took adequate steps to prevent such serious harms.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will not tolerate what she described as “digital undressing” of women and children, calling it completely unacceptable. She stressed that protecting fundamental rights online remains a top priority for Europe.
Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said sexual deepfakes are a violent and degrading form of abuse. She added that the investigation will assess whether X treated the rights of European citizens, especially women and children, as collateral damage in its service design.
As part of the process, the Commission has asked X to submit a special risk assessment report focused on Grok’s functionalities and their impact on the platform’s overall risk profile before deployment.
At the same time, EU regulators have expanded a separate investigation launched in December 2023. That earlier case examines whether X properly managed risks linked to its recommender systems, including the platform’s recent move toward a Grok-based recommendation model.
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If violations are confirmed, X could be found in breach of several key DSA provisions related to risk assessment, mitigation, and transparency.
