Why Elon Musk’s Grok is under investigation in India, Europe and Malaysia: what are the cases?
Authorities in India, Europe and Malaysia are investigating Elon Musk’s X after its AI chatbot Grok allowed people to create sexualized images of children and women.
Investigations were launched after social media users, media outlets and authorities reported that Grok had released images of women and children in extremely tight clothing upon request; this is a functionality that X has referred to as “spicy mode” in the past.
This trend, which gained global momentum after the platform introduced its image editing feature ahead of Christmas, has seen an increasing number of users asking Grok to edit their photos.
India sent warning
On January 2, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) sent a notice to
The notice said the images and media “violated the dignity, privacy and safety of women and children, normalized sexual harassment and exploitation in digital spaces” and undermined the “legal due diligence framework applicable to intermediaries operating in India.”
MeitY asked X to take action against the offending content, users and accounts.
The ministry requested Musk’s social media firm to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours from the date of the order.
EU calls action ‘illegal’
The European Commission is “very aware” of the fact that X offers a “spicy mode”, European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier told reporters.
“This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is terrible. This is disgusting. This is how we see it, and this has no place in Europe,” he said.
British media watchdog Ofcom said it had sought information from X.
Ofcom demanded on Monday that X explain how Grok was able to produce images of naked people and sexualized images of children and whether it had failed in its legal duty to protect users.
France also issued a statement saying Grok was producing “clearly illegal” sexual content on X. In its statement, the government said the images created by Grok potentially violated the European Union Digital Services Act.
Elon Musk’s Grok recently updated the Imagine features of its Grok chatbot, allowing users to easily create visuals with text-based prompts.
Malaysia launched an investigation
While authorities in Malaysia are investigating the latest allegations against Grok, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission announced that it will summon company representatives.
“MCMC calls on all platforms accessible in Malaysia to take safeguards in line with Malaysian laws and online security standards, especially with regard to their AI-powered features, chatbots and image processing tools,” it said in a statement over the weekend.
Elon Musk, X’s answer
After days of silence, on Sunday
X’s Global Government Affairs account posted the statement hours after Elon Musk said people who use Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as those who upload illegal content.
“Anyone who uses Grok to create illegal content will be subject to the same consequences as if they had uploaded illegal content,” Musk said in a statement Sunday.
The disturbing images are a clear violation of its own acceptable use policy, which prohibits the sexualisation of children. Some of the images have been removed Bloomberg reported.
“We are taking action against illegal content on
