Overview
- The European Commission launched a formal investigation to determine whether X failed to prevent the generation and spread of manipulated sexualized images, including content that may amount to child sexual abuse material.
- Officials said they could order changes to X’s algorithms or suspend the chatbot as interim measures, and the DSA allows fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover if violations are confirmed.
- The action also broadens a 2023 case to scrutinize the impact of X’s recent switch to a Grok‑based recommender system and its handling of systemic risks.
- Civil‑society researchers estimated Grok produced millions of sexualized images within days and thousands potentially involving minors, and reporting indicates some content and workarounds persisted after initial fixes.
- X and xAI said they limited image generation to paying users, geoblocked certain outputs, and blocked edits of real people in revealing clothing, while separate national probes and temporary bans in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia underscore continuing pressure.