The UK’s information watchdog will investigate reports that Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, has been used to generate sexual imagery of children.
Grok was developed by Musk’s xAI in 2023, designed to be a “truth-seeking” assistant with a witty, rebellious personality.
Integrated into X, formerly Twitter, it uses real-time data from the platform to generate text, images and code.
But complaints have mounted that Grok was being used to generate sexual photos of real women and children, and now the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is investigating.
The announcement comes on the same day the X offices in Paris were raided by French prosecutors examining similar allegations.
In a statement on its website, the ICO confirmed it had opened a formal probe into two X companies concerning their processing of personal data in relation to Grok, and the AI’s potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content.
“We have taken this step following reports that Grok has been used to generate non‑consensual sexual imagery of individuals, including children,” the statement said.
“The reported creation and circulation of such content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public.”
File pic: Reuters
William Malcolm of the ICO said the investigation would probe whether X Internet Unlimited Company and xAI had complied with data protection laws, and provided sufficient safeguards.
He said: “The reports about Grok raise deeply troubling questions about how people’s personal data has been used to generate intimate or sexualised images without their knowledge or consent, and whether the necessary safeguards were put in place to prevent this.
“Losing control of personal data in this way can cause immediate and significant harm. This is particularly the case where children are involved.
“Our role is to address the data protection concerns at the centre of this, while recognising that other organisations also have important responsibilities.”
Ofcom also investigating
Another regulatory watchdog, Ofcom, also opened a formal investigation into X last month under the UK’s Online Safety Act, to determine whether the firm was complying with its duties to protect people from illegal content.
The European Commission launched a probe into Grok last month too, looking at whether it disseminates illegal content, such as manipulated sexualised images, in the EU.
The EU is one of a number of authorities around the world to have raised concerns about Grok, with government officials in Germany, Sweden, India, Japan, Malaysia, California, Indonesia and Philippines among those that have spoken out.
Mr Malcolm said the ICO was working closely with Ofcom and “international regulators”.
File pic: iStock
Grok has restricted image editing but yet to say where
In a separate statement, regulator Ofcom said – while it was probing X – it was not investigating xAI, which provides the standalone Grok chatbot app.
Ofcom also said its investigation into X was still gathering evidence and warned the probe could take months.
On why it was not investigating xAI, the statement said: “When we opened our investigation into X, we said we were assessing whether we should also investigate xAI, as the provider of the standalone Grok service.
“We continue to demand answers from xAI about the risks it poses. We are examining whether to launch an investigation into its compliance with the rules.”
Ofcom said that because of the way the Online Safety Act relates to chatbots, it was currently unable to investigate the creation of illegal images by the standalone Grok itself.
xAI said on 14 January it had restricted image editing for Grok AI users and blocked users, based on their location, from generating images of people in revealing clothing in “jurisdictions where it’s illegal”. It is yet to identify the countries where those restrictions apply.
xAI earlier said it had limited the use of Grok’s image generation and editing features to paying subscribers only.
