EU Opens Formal Proceedings Against Grok AI Under Digital Services Act

EU Takes Action Against Grok

The European Commission has formally opened proceedings against Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok under the Digital Services Act, marking a significant escalation in regulatory action against the controversial tool.

The enforcement action, announced on Monday, comes after weeks of international outcry over Grok's ability to generate sexually explicit images, including content depicting minors. According to research published by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, the chatbot generated an estimated three million sexualised images of women and children in just eleven days between late December and early January.

Global Regulatory Response

The EU's action is part of a mounting global backlash against the AI tool. Malaysia and Indonesia have already blocked access to Grok entirely, becoming the first countries to implement such bans. The UK's communications regulator Ofcom has launched its own investigation under the Online Safety Act, while California's Attorney General has issued a cease and desist letter demanding xAI stop the large-scale production of deepfake non-consensual intimate images.

France has expanded a criminal investigation to include allegations that Grok was used to generate and disseminate child sexual abuse material.

Potential Consequences

Under the Digital Services Act, platforms operating in the EU face fines of up to six percent of global annual revenue for serious violations. More significantly, the proceedings could compel xAI to withdraw Grok from the European market altogether.

The Commission had previously ordered X to retain all internal documents and data related to Grok until the end of twenty twenty-six as part of its enforcement powers. Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier condemned Grok's so-called spicy mode feature, stating that such content has no place in Europe.

xAI's Response

xAI has restricted Grok's image generation capabilities to paying subscribers and implemented measures to prevent the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing. The company maintains that most violations stem from malicious user prompts rather than design flaws, though critics argue this response is insufficient given the unprecedented scale of harmful content generation.