Governments and regulators worldwide are stepping up action against sexually explicit deepfake content generated by Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok on X, triggering investigations, bans and formal warnings across multiple regions. Authorities say the spread of manipulated sexualised images, often created without consent, poses serious risks to privacy, online safety and child protection.
In Europe, the European Commission has opened a probe under the Digital Services Act to assess whether Grok disseminated illegal content and whether X properly mitigated systemic risks. Regulators in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden have also taken steps ranging from investigations to referrals to prosecutors, warning that the issue could amount to widespread sexual harassment and serious privacy breaches.
Across Asia, India, Japan and Indonesia have moved to restrict or investigate Grok, while Malaysia and the Philippines restored access only after safety commitments were made. In the Americas, authorities in the United States, Canada and Brazil have demanded explanations or set deadlines for xAI to curb non-consensual sexual content. Australia’s online safety regulator has also launched an inquiry under its image-based abuse framework.
xAI has responded by restricting image-editing features, limiting access to paying users, and blocking image generation in jurisdictions where such content is illegal. The global backlash highlights mounting pressure on AI developers to enforce safeguards as regulators tighten oversight of generative technologies.
