The topic of conversation two weeks ago was the artificial intelligence (AI) Grok generating pornographic images on X, violating user privacy. Pictures of women in clothing were blacked out and those wearing hijabs were removed, causing Grok to be blocked in Malaysia and Indonesia. Initially, xAI took no action, with Elon Musk still being able to joke. But after a warning was issued by the European Commission (EC), the generation of indecent images was stopped.
But as singer Shidee said, it was too late because the EC has launched a formal investigation into xAI under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigation began weeks after the EC asked xAI to keep all logs and not delete them.
The new investigation will assess whether xAI correctly assessed and mitigated the risks associated with the use of Grok functionality in X in the European Union (EU). This includes the risks associated with the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, such as manipulated sexually explicit images, including content that may constitute child sexual abuse material.
If found guilty, X could face a fine equivalent to 6% of its global turnover. The EC is also continuing its ongoing investigation launched in December 2023 into X’s compliance with its recommender system risk management obligations. X is being investigated for allowing racist, hateful and politically manipulated content to remain on the platform despite breaching the DSA.
