EU Investigates X Platform Over Grok AI-Generated Explicit Deepfakes
The European Commission opened a formal investigation into X on 26 January 2026, examining whether the Grok AI chatbot poses risks by enabling creation of non-consensual explicit deepfake images of real people, including children. The platform faces potential penalties of up to 6% of global annual revenue if it fails to make meaningful adjustments.
What happened
The European Commission launched a formal investigation into X on 26 January 2026 under the Digital Services Act, focusing on risks posed by Grok, an AI chatbot embedded in the platform with image generation and editing capabilities.
Users have employed Grok to create non-consensual sexualized imagery of real people without their permission, including deepfake images. Reports indicate the tool has also been used to generate sexualized images of children.
Reported impact
The European Commission stated that risks from distributing illegal content such as fabricated explicit sexual images have already caused material harm and pose serious harm to EU citizens.
Activists and victims contend that the tool should not have the capability to generate pornographic images in the first place.
Index analysis
X's safety account previously stated the platform had blocked Grok's ability to digitally modify photographs to remove clothing in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.
The investigation will assess whether X adequately evaluated risks from deploying Grok in the EU and took effective countermeasures. The Commission may impose temporary measures if X fails to make meaningful adjustments, with maximum penalties reaching 6% of global annual revenue under the Digital Services Act.
Governance controls
Grok restricted image generation and editing functions to paid subscribers and announced blocking users from editing images of real people in revealing clothes in jurisdictions where such edits are illegal.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.