The EU is seriously investigating complaints that Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool is generating sexually explicit childlike images, calling the content illegal.
BRUSSELS: The European Commission is “very seriously looking” into complaints that Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok is being used to generate sexually explicit childlike images.
EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier condemned the content generated by the tool’s ‘spicy mode’. “This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling,” he told reporters.
Regnier stated that such material “has no place in Europe”. Complaints about the abuse began appearing on Musk’s X platform after an ‘edit image’ button for Grok was rolled out in late December.
Musk’s company xAI said earlier this month it was working to fix flaws in its AI tool. The public prosecutor’s office in Paris has expanded an investigation into X to include new accusations regarding Grok and child pornography.
X has already been fined 120 million euros by Brussels for violating EU digital content rules on advertising transparency and user verification. The platform remains under an ongoing investigation under the EU’s Digital Services Act that began in December 2023.
The commission has also demanded information from X about comments made around the Holocaust. Regnier confirmed that X had responded to this request for information.
He warned that the commission is serious about enforcement, encouraging all companies to comply with the rules.
