X faces EU investigation over Grok’s sexualized deepfakes
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X is facing an investigation from the European Commission over the sexualized deepfakes generated by its Grok AI chatbot. In its announcement, the Commission says it will evaluate whether X “properly assessed and mitigated risks” associated with Grok’s image-generating capabilities in the EU, as reported earlier by The New York Times.
Advocacy groups and lawmakers from around the world have raised the alarm on Grok’s AI image editing feature after it began complying with requests to generate sexualized images of women and minors on the platform. X later paywalled the ability to edit images in public replies to posts, but everyone can still generate images using Grok’s chatbot interface inside X.
The EU Commission will evaluate whether X violated the Digital Services Act, a set of rules that hold large online platforms legally accountable for the content posted to them. It’s also extending a broader 2023 investigation into X, which will now examine the platform’s Grok-powered recommendation system (The EU already fined X $140 million over “deceptive” blue checkmarks in connection with this probe).
“Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation,” Henna Virkkunen, the EU Commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, says in the press release. “With this investigation, we will determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it treated rights of European citizens – including those of women and children – as collateral damage of its service.”
X could face fines of up to 6 percent of its annual global revenue if it’s once again found in violation of the DSA.
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