EU Launches Probe into Musk’s Grok AI Chatbot

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI and deployed on the social media platform X, examining whether the company has complied with its legal obligations to mitigate online risks within the European Union.

The probe, announced on Monday, is being conducted under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, which requires large online platforms to take stronger action against illegal and harmful content. The investigation follows reports that Grok’s image generation tools were used to create sexualized images of women and minors, raising concerns about systemic failures in risk assessment and content safeguards.

According to the Commission, the inquiry will assess whether X properly evaluated and addressed risks linked to the rollout of Grok’s functionalities in the EU, including the spread of illegal material such as manipulated sexually explicit images that could constitute child sexual abuse content. The Commission said EU users may already have been exposed to serious harm as a result of these risks.

EU technology commissioner Henna Virkkunen said the investigation aims to determine whether X fulfilled its duties under EU law or whether the rights of European citizens, particularly women and children, were compromised in the deployment of the service. She described the non-consensual sexualization of women and children as a grave and unacceptable violation.

X has pointed to measures announced on January 14, stating that xAI had restricted image editing features and blocked the generation of images depicting people in revealing clothing in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.

However, EU officials said these changes do not fully address the broader systemic risks and suggested there are grounds to believe the company failed to conduct a proper, targeted risk assessment before introducing Grok in Europe.

The move could heighten tensions with the Trump administration, which has criticized EU tech regulation as a threat to the commercial interests of US technology companies operating in Europe.