X faces probe over Grok roll-out in EU
The European Commission has launched a new investigation into how social-media platform X has deployed its AI tool Grok in the EU.
The commission says that the probe, under the Digital Services Act (DSA), will assess whether the company properly assessed and mitigated risks associated with Grok.
These include risks related to the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, such as manipulated sexually explicit images – including content that may amount to child sexual abuse material.
‘Serious harm’
“These risks seem to have materialised, exposing citizens in the EU to serious harm,” a commission statement said.
As a result, the EU body is to look at whether X complies with its DSA obligations to:
- Diligently assess and mitigate systemic risks – including of the dissemination of illegal content, negative effects in relation to gender-based violence, and serious negative consequences to physical and mental well-being stemming from deployments of Grok's functionalities into its platform, and
- Conduct and transmit to the commission a risk-assessment report for Grok's functionalities in the X service with a critical impact on X's risk profile prior to their deployment.
The commission said that it had worked closely on the issue with Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM), which will be involved in the probe as the national co-ordinator in X’s European base.
‘Collateral damage’
“Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation,” said EU commissioner Henna Virkkunen.
“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,” she added.
The EU body said it would continue to gather evidence on the issue – by sending additional requests for information and conducting interviews or inspections – and may impose interim measures “in the absence of meaningful adjustments to the X service”.
In parallel, the EU body is extending an investigation launched in December 2023 into X's compliance with risk-management obligations linked to its recommender systems.
This will examine whether X has properly assessed and mitigated all systemic risks associated with its recommender systems – including the impact of its recently announced switch to a Grok-based recommender system.