EU launches investigation into Elon Musk’s X over Grok AI sex deepfake incident

The European Commission has Investigate Elon Musk’s X has come under scrutiny over concerns that its artificial intelligence tool, Grok, is being used to create sexy images of real people.

as follows: There was a similar announcement in January From UK regulator Ofcom.

If the website is found to have breached the EU’s Digital Services Act, the European Commission could fine the company up to 6% of its global annual turnover.

one previous statement News from the X Security account says the social media platform has blocked Grok from digitally altering photos of people to remove their clothes “in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.”

Regina Doherty, a member of the European Parliament who represents Ireland, said the European Commission would assess whether “manipulated sexually explicit images” were shown to EU users.

Activists and victims say the tool can be used to generate sexually explicit images Should have “never happened”Ofcom said the investigation would continue.

The EU regulator said it may “impose interim measures” if X refuses to implement meaningful adjustments.

The company said it also extended an ongoing investigation launched in December 2023 into risks related to the X recommendation system, an algorithm that recommends specific posts to users.

Ahead of the committee’s announcement, Elon Musk Posted a photo on X On Monday, it appeared to be in consideration of new restrictions surrounding Grok.

The X owner has previously criticized those who censored the app’s image editing features – specifically the UK government – calling it “any excuse for censorship”.

on Sunday, Grok account on X has been claimed The tool generated more than 5.5 billion images in just 30 days.

Other investigations into the platform’s chatbots are underway in Australia, France and Germany.

Grok was temporarily banned in Indonesia and Malaysia, although the latter has now lifted its ban.

Henna Virkkunen, the council’s executive vice president for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, called sexual deepfakes a “violent and unacceptable form of degradation.”

She said: “Through this investigation we will determine whether X has fulfilled its legal obligations under the DSA or whether it views the rights of European citizens, including those of women and children, as collateral damage to its services.”

In a statement to Reuters, Doherty said there were “serious questions” about whether platforms such as X were meeting their legal obligations to “properly assess risks and prevent the spread of illegal and harmful content.”

“The EU has clear rules to keep people safe online,” she said.

“These rules must make sense in practice, especially when powerful technologies are deployed at scale.

“No company operating in the EU is above the law.”

The move comes a month after the E.U. Fined X €120m (£105m) for its blue tick badgesaying they “deceived users” because the company didn’t “meaningfully verify” who was behind the account.

In response, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accused EU regulators of attacking and censoring U.S. companies.

“The European Commission’s fine is not just an attack on X, but an attack by foreign governments on all U.S. technology platforms and the American people,” he said.

His remarks were retweeted by Musk, who added “Absolutely.”