Ireland’s data protection watchdog, acting on behalf of the EU, launched a probe on Tuesday into Elon Musk’s platform X over its AI chatbot Grok generating sexualised deepfake images, marking the latest stage of an international backlash against the tool.
The “large-scale inquiry” concerns potential breaches of the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to a statement from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission.
It will examine “the alleged creation and publication on X of potentially harmful, non-consensual intimate or sexualised images involving Europeans, including children,” generated using the tool, the DPC said.
“The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether X complied with its obligations under the GDPR … with regard to the personal data processed of EU/EEA data subjects,” it added.
As X’s European operations are headquartered in Ireland, the DPC acts as the lead regulator in Europe for enforcing EU rules on the platform.
DPC deputy commissioner Graham Doyle said the authority has “been engaging” with X “since media reports first emerged a number of weeks ago concerning the alleged ability of X users to prompt the Grok account on X to generate sexualised images of real people, including children.”
In response to the outcry over the deepfakes, some countries announced in January that they were launching probes into Grok, increasing regulatory pressure or even blocking it entirely.
The European Union opened its own investigation into whether X had complied with legal obligations under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates internet giants.
Under pressure, X said last month that it was restricting Grok’s image generation and editing features to paying subscribers.
Regulation of US tech giants, including X, has been a key point of tension between the EU and Washington since Donald Trump’s return to power.
The Irish regulator said it notified Musk’s social network on Monday that the investigation had been opened.
Contacted by AFP, X had not responded by Monday evening.
The DPC had previously launched an investigation in April 2025 into X’s use of certain personal data to train its AI models, particularly Grok.
