The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, regarding the creation of sexually explicit fake images of women and minors. The commission announced on Monday that its investigation would examine whether the AI tool used on X has met its legal obligations under the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires social media companies to address illegal and harmful online content. In a statement to the AFP news agency, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe will not "tolerate unthinkable behaviour, such as digital undressing of women and children". "It is simple - we will not hand over consent and child protection to tech companies to violate and monetise. The harm caused by illegal images is very real," she added.

The AI chatbot feature on X, Grok, was found by one study to have generated about 3m sexualised images in 11 days. The AI chatbot feature on X, Grok, was found by one study to have generated about 3m sexualised images in 11 days. Investigation comes after Elon Musk's firm sparked outrage by allowing users to'strip' photos of women and children The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk's X over the production of sexually explicit images and the spreading of possible child sexual abuse material by the platform's AI chatbot feature, Grok. The formal inquiry, launched on Monday, also extends an investigation into X's recommender systems, algorithms that help users discover new content. Grok has sparked international outrage by allowing users to digitally strip women and children and put them into provocative poses.

X to block Grok AI's undressing feature | Digital Dilemma The mother of one of Elon Musk's children is suing his artificial intelligence company, saying its Grok chatbot allowed users to generate sexually-exploitative deepfake images of her that have caused her humiliation and emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed just before California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a cease-and-desist letter to Musk's xAI company demanding that it stop the creation and distribution of Grok-generated nonconsensual sexualised imagery . Ashley St Clair, a writer and political commentator, alleges in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in New York City against xAI that she was the victim of sexualised deepfake images generated by Grok. St Clair, who is the mother of Musk's 16-month-old son, Romulus, said she reported the images to Musk's X social media platform, which hosts Grok, after they began appearing last year and asked that they be removed. The platform replied that the images did not violate its policies, she said.

If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists. For more than a week, beginning late last month, anyone could go online and use a tool owned and promoted by the world's richest man to modify a picture of basically any person, even a child, and undress them. This was not some deepfake nudify app that you had to pay to download on a shady backwater website or a dark-web message board. This was Grok, a chatbot built into X--ostensibly to provide information to users but, thanks to an image-generating update, transformed into a major producer of nonconsensual sexualized images, particularly of women and children. The forced undressings happened out in the open, in one stretch thousands of times every hour, on a popular social network where journalists, politicians, and celebrities post.

A deluge of sexual images created by Musk's Grok AI tool has prompted a public and political outcry. A deluge of sexual images created by Musk's Grok AI tool has prompted a public and political outcry. Mon 12 Jan 2026 07.23 ESTFirst published on Mon 12 Jan 2026 06.02 EST The UK media watchdog has opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk's X over the use of the Grok AI tool to manipulate images of women and children by removing their clothes. Ofcom has acted following a public and political outcry over a deluge of sexual images appearing on the platform, created by Musk's Grok, which is integrated with X. The regulator is investigating X under the Online Safety Act (OSA), which carries a range of possible punishments for breaches, including a UK ban of apps and websites for the most serious abuses.

The UK government has warned that X could be blocked after Grok AI was used to create sexual images without consent. The UK government has warned that X could be blocked after Grok AI was used to create sexual images without consent. Government signals support for possible Ofcom intervention on Grok as scrutiny of X's AI tool intensifies Elon Musk's X "is not doing enough to keep its customers safe online", a minister has said, as the UK government prepares to outline possible action against the platform over the mass production of sexualised images of woman and children. Peter Kyle, the business secretary, said the government would fully support any action taken by Ofcom, the media regulator, against X - including the possibility that the platform could be blocked in the UK. Kyle said Ofcom had received information it had requested from X as part of a fast-tracked investigation into the use of platform's built-in AI tool, Grok, to generate large numbers of manipulated images of people, often depicting them in minimal clothing or sexualised poses.

Elon Musk's firm X has blocked non-paying users from Grok's image-generation tool on Friday. Elon Musk's firm X has blocked non-paying users from Grok's image-generation tool on Friday. Monday briefing: How Elon Musk's Grok is being used as a tool for digital sexual abuse In today's newsletter: The chatbot is being used to digitally undress photos of women and children. What can politicians actually do to stop it, and what does it say about our control of the internet? Last week, the UK technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said: "We cannot and will not allow the proliferation of these demeaning and degrading images, which are disproportionately aimed at women and girls."

Lammy said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how technology was fuelling'hyper-pornographied slop' online. Lammy said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how technology was fuelling'hyper-pornographied slop' online. David Lammy: JD Vance agrees that sexualised AI images on X are'unacceptable' Exclusive: US vice-president'sympathetic' to concerns over Grok-generated pornography, says deputy PM JD Vance, the US vice-president, has agreed that it is "entirely unacceptable" for platforms such as X to allow the proliferation of AI-generated sexualised images of women and children, David Lammy has told the Guardian. The deputy prime minister said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how the technology was being used to fuel "hyper-pornographied slop" online when they met in Washington on Thursday. The comments come amid a growing transatlantic row over the use of X's artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, to manipulate thousands of images of women and sometimes children to remove their clothing or put them in sexual positions.

Media watchdog Ofcom said it was seeking urgent answers from X, to announce action within'days not weeks'. Media watchdog Ofcom said it was seeking urgent answers from X, to announce action within'days not weeks'. Elon Musk's X threatened with UK ban over wave of indecent AI images Fri 9 Jan 2026 17.49 ESTFirst published on Fri 9 Jan 2026 15.00 EST Elon Musk's X has been ordered by the UK government to tackle a wave of indecent AI images or face a de facto ban, as an expert said the platform was no longer a "safe space" for women. The media watchdog, Ofcom, confirmed it would accelerate an investigation into X as a backlash grew against the site, which has hosted a deluge of images depicting partially stripped women and children. X announced a restriction on creating images via the Grok AI tool on Friday morning in response to the global outcry.

'The incident is a lesson in the dangers of rapid and unregulated technology: it is not a coincidence that among many users, the first thing they thought to do with AI was to harass and degrade women.' 'The incident is a lesson in the dangers of rapid and unregulated technology: it is not a coincidence that among many users, the first thing they thought to do with AI was to harass and degrade women.' Grok is undressing women and children. Don't expect the US to take action Elon Musk's reckless and degrading AI could be built differently. Fri 9 Jan 2026 08.00 ESTLast modified on Fri 9 Jan 2026 12.48 EST Over the past year, Elon Musk has made a series of protocol changes to Grok, the proprietary AI chatbot of his company xAI, which runs prominently on his social media site X, formerly Twitter. Many of these changes have been geared to make the bot more amenable to producing pornography.