Ireland's DPC Opens Probe Into Musk’s Grok AI Over Explicit Images

Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot has been under scrutiny from multiple regulators in the EU and across the world. Last month, India also raised concerns with X regarding the gross misuse of the Grok AI chat. Meanwhile, Malaysia and Indonesia blocked the AI chatbot. Now, it seems another country in the EU, Ireland in this case, has opened a formal investigation into X’s AI chatbot Grok, following concerns that it could generate harmful sexualised images and videos, including those of minors.

EU regulator investigates X’s AI chatbot for potential GDPR violations

As reported by Reuters, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) is now looking into the matter. For the uninitiated, the DPC is the lead EU regulator for X due to the company’s European operations being based in Ireland, and it has the authority to impose fines of up to 4% of global revenue under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The inquiry was notified to X on Monday and looks to determine whether the company complied with GDPR obligations when processing personal data. The investigation follows a wave of controversial activity last month, when Grok reportedly flooded X with AI-altered near-nude images of real people after user prompts, sparking global outrage and prompting multiple regulatory actions.

X attempted to curb Grok’s ability to produce such images on the platform, but Reuters reports indicate the chatbot continued generating them when prompted. Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said the DPC had been engaging with X since media reports first emerged and described the inquiry as a “large-scale” effort to assess compliance with GDPR’s fundamental requirements.

The European Commission and the U.K.’s privacy watchdog have also opened investigations, hinting at growing scrutiny of AI-generated content in Europe. Meanwhile, popular figures from the U.S., including President Trump and Elon Musk himself, have criticized the European Commission for deliberately imposing fines as a form of taxation on American tech companies.