France and Malaysia have joined India in raising concerns over Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s startup xAI, for generating sexualized deepfake images, including those of minors.
The chatbot, available on Musk’s social media platform X, posted a statement earlier this week attributed to itself: “I deeply regret an incident on Dec 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualized attire based on a user’s prompt.”
The statement continued: “This violated ethical standards and potentially US laws on [child sexual abuse material]. It was a failure in safeguards, and I’m sorry for any harm caused. xAI is reviewing to prevent future issues.”
Critics have questioned the validity of the apology. Albert Burneko, writing for Defector, noted that Grok is not a conscious entity and said the statement lacks accountability.
Technology outlet Futurism reported that Grok has also produced images depicting assault and sexual abuse.
In response, Musk posted Saturday, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
On Friday, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a directive to X, requiring the company to restrict Grok from generating content that is “obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, pedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under law.” X must respond within 72 hours or risk losing safe harbor protections that shield platforms from liability for user-posted content.
In France, the Paris prosecutor’s office said it is investigating explicit imagery on X. The country’s digital affairs office said three ministers reported “manifestly illegal content” to the prosecutor’s office and an online watchdog platform.
Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission said it is investigating reports of “indecent, grossly offensive, and otherwise harmful content” involving manipulated images of women and minors on X.
xAI has said it is reviewing Grok’s safeguards to prevent repeat incidents.
