Regulators move against Grok after it generates explicit images

Authorities in several countries have launched scrutiny of Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI and integrated into the social platform X, after it began generating sexualized images of people.

Malaysia was among the first to announce an investigation. The country’s Communications and Multimedia Commission said it is reviewing complaints that Grok was used to “undress” women and children and to create obscene and offensive content.

The regulator stressed that distributing such material constitutes a criminal offense and said representatives of X would be summoned for explanations, even though the platform is not formally licensed in the country.

Around the same time, Indian authorities contacted X. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded an urgent review of Grok and required the company to report within 72 hours on measures to prevent the generation of content involving nudity, sexualization, and other illegal material. Indian officials did not rule out criminal and IT-related penalties, as well as tighter regulation of social media platforms.

France has taken an even tougher stance. The government said that images generated by Grok without individuals’ consent could violate the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). According to French authorities, X may have failed to meet its obligation to mitigate the risks associated with the spread of illegal content.

Elon Musk responded on X, stating that the platform removes illegal content, blocks offending accounts, and cooperates with authorities. He added that users who generate unlawful material with Grok will face the same consequences as those who upload prohibited content directly.

The controversy escalated after X launched a new image-editing feature around the New Year. Users worldwide began actively experimenting with Grok, transforming photos into sexualized images, despite such behavior being explicitly prohibited under the chatbot’s own rules.