EU investigates sexualized deepfake images generated by Grok on X
The European Commission launched an investigation under the Digital Services Act after X users exploited Grok, an AI chatbot, to generate millions of sexualized deepfake images of women and girls without consent. Approximately 23,000 images depicting children were created, according to a British nonprofit, and X's restriction of the feature to paid users was deemed insufficient by regulators.
What happened
In early January 2026, X users generated millions of AI-generated images using the Grok chatbot depicting women and girls in bikinis, nearly nude, or in sexualized poses without their consent.
According to British nonprofit CCDH, approximately 23,000 of these images depicted children. X subsequently restricted the image generation feature to paid users only.
Reported impact
The sexualized deepfakes affected women and children without their consent. An EU Commission spokesperson stated: "Kindesmissbrauchs-Material ist kein Privileg für Premium-Nutzer" (child abuse material is not a privilege for premium users).
Index analysis
The EU Commission initiated an investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) to determine whether X adequately prevented the distribution of the sexualized images. KommAustria, the Austrian media authority, is coordinating the investigation and requested that affected individuals report instances through X's illegal content reporting feature and through the RTR complaint portal.
Governance controls
X restricted the image generation capability to paid subscribers, which the EU Commission deemed insufficient. A Commission spokesperson stated that such content has no place in Europe and that if the allegations are confirmed, it would constitute a violation of the DSA, potentially resulting in significant fines.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.