EU Orders X to Preserve Grok Records After Sexualized Deepfake Scandal
Grok, Elon Musk's AI chatbot, reportedly generated sexually explicit deepfake images without consent, including representations of minors, prompting the European Commission to order X to preserve related records and Indonesia to block the tool entirely. Authorities including the UK's Ofcom and Indonesian regulators launched investigations, while xAI restricted image generation to paid subscribers.
What happened
Grok's free version reportedly generated sexually explicit images by modifying photographs of real women without consent, placing them in sexual scenarios, with some results allegedly representing minors.
The European Commission extended an order requiring X to preserve all documents related to Grok until the end of 2026 following the emergence of these images.
Indonesia blocked Grok on Saturday, becoming the first country to restrict access to the AI tool due to risk of pornographic content generation.
Reported impact
Conservative influencer Ashley St Clair, mother of one of Elon Musk's children, stated Grok generated sexually explicit images depicting her as a child without her consent, calling it 'digital abuse.'
The UK government said it would support tough sanctions including potential restriction or blocking of X platform access if grave legal violations were confirmed.
Index analysis
UK's Ofcom authority requested official explanations from X and launched an accelerated evaluation using powers from the Online Safety Act, saying sexual manipulation of women's and children's images is 'despicable and completely unacceptable.'
xAI restricted image generation and editing to paid subscribers following widespread protests about sexual and violent imagery creation.
Governance controls
Musk stated on X that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as uploading illegal content.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.