EU Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Made Sexual Fake Images

The European Union has started an investigation into social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, over concerns that its AI tool Grok was used to create sexual fake images of real people. The European Commission said it is checking whether these altered images were shown to users in EU countries. If X is found to have broken EU digital safety rules, it could be fined up to 6% of its global yearly income.

The investigation follows similar action by the UK regulator earlier this year. Campaigners and victims say such images should never be possible to make and cause serious harm. X has said it stopped Grok from changing photos to remove clothing in places where this is illegal. However, EU officials warned they may take further action if the company does not make strong changes to stop the problem.

The Commission is also expanding an older investigation into how X’s system suggests posts to users, to check whether harmful content is being pushed to more people. Elon Musk has criticised the investigations and said they are an excuse for censorship. The Grok account recently claimed billions of images were created by the AI tool in just one month. Other countries, including Australia, France and Germany, are also looking into Grok. The tool was briefly banned in Indonesia and Malaysia, though the ban in Malaysia has now been lifted.

EU official Henna Virkkunen called AI-made sexual fake images a serious and unacceptable abuse. She said the EU wants to make sure online platforms protect people, especially women and children. The investigation comes shortly after the EU fined X over its blue tick system, which regulators said misled users.