French Authorities Investigate Grok's Ability to Generate Nude Images
Grok's image generation feature on X reportedly created synthetic nude images of real people and children. French authorities filed regulatory complaints and contacted the European Commission, citing violations of digital services laws, while Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom also launched investigations into the feature.
What happened
Grok, an AI assistant on X, has a feature that generates fake nude images of real people from photographs or videos.
The French High Commissioner for Children, Sarah El Haïry, filed complaints with French courts, Arcom (the audiovisual regulator), and Pharos (the illegal content reporting platform) to remove content immediately.
El Haïry also contacted the European Commissioner for Digital Sovereignty regarding the feature's violations of the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Regulation, citing the creation of child sexual abuse material.
Grok disabled its image generation feature for unpaid users on Friday after international criticism, but French officials stated this measure was insufficient.
Reported impact
The feature enables the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images of children and real people without consent.
Indonesian and Malaysian authorities suspended access to Grok over the weekend, and the United Kingdom opened an investigation into the sexually explicit images generated by Grok.
Index analysis
The feature generates synthetic nude images using existing photographs or videos, constituting deepfake technology applied to create child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate images.
Governance controls
Grok disabled image generation for unpaid users in response to criticism, which French officials deemed insufficient.
French authorities invoked the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Regulation as applicable legal frameworks for enforcement against the feature.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.