EU says ‘seriously looking’ into Musk’s Grok AI over sexual deepfakes of minors

Published January 5, 2026
xAI Grok logo is seen in this illustration taken on Feb 16, 2025. — Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
xAI Grok logo is seen in this illustration taken on Feb 16, 2025. — Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

The European Commission said on Monday it is “very seriously looking” into complaints that Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok is being used to generate and disseminate sexually explicit childlike images.

“Grok is now offering a ‘spicy mode’ showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with childlike images. This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling,” EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier told reporters.

“This has no place in Europe.”

Complaints of abuse began hitting Musk’s X social media platform, where Grok is available, after an “edit image” button for the generative artificial intelligence tool was rolled out in late December.

But Grok maker xAI, run by Musk, said earlier this month it was scrambling to fix flaws in its AI tool.

The public prosecutor’s office in Paris has also expanded an investigation into X to include new accusations that Grok was being used for generating and disseminating child pornography.

X has already been in the EU’s crosshairs.

Brussels in December slapped the platform with a €120 million ($140m) fine for violating the EU’s digital content rules on transparency in advertising and for its methods for ensuring users were verified and actual people.

X still remains under investigation under the EU’s Digital Services Act in a probe that began in December 2023.

The commission, which acts as the EU’s digital watchdog, has also demanded information from X about comments made around the Holocaust.

Regnier said X had responded to the commission’s request for information.

“I think X is very well aware that we’re very serious about DSA enforcement, they will remember the fine that they have received from us back in December. So we encourage all companies to be compliant because the commission is serious about enforcement,” he added.

Opinion

Editorial

Regional climbdown
04 Mar, 2026

Regional climbdown

WITH the region in flames, Pakistan must calibrate its foreign policy accordingly; it has to deal with some ...
Burning questions
Updated 04 Mar, 2026

Burning questions

A credible, independent, and time-bound inquiry is now necessary after the US Consulate protest ended in gruesome bloodshed.
Governance failure
04 Mar, 2026

Governance failure

BENEATH Lahore’s signal-free corridors and road infrastructure lies a darker truth: crumbling sewerage lines,...
Iran endgame
Updated 03 Mar, 2026

Iran endgame

AS hostilities continue following the Israeli-American joint aggression against Iran, there seems to be no visible...
Water concerns
03 Mar, 2026

Water concerns

RECENT reports that India plans to invest $60bn in increasing its water storage capacity on the Jhelum and Chenab...
Down and out
03 Mar, 2026

Down and out

ANOTHER Twenty20 World Cup, another ignominious exit — although this time Pakistan did advance past the first...