European Union To Investigate X After Sexualized Images Generated By Grok

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Published Jan 26, 2026, 8:04 PM EST

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In late 2025, an update to Grok, the AI-powered chatbot owned by Elon Musk's X, added what they referred to as a "Spicy Mode." This invasive and easily abused change to the AI allowed users to undress people with images they fed through the algorithm. This prompted unsolicited and explicit images to be produced, including those of children.

As a result, the update was banned in many countries, and a campaign against the new capabilities was started worldwide. Now, the EU is opening a legal case against X to determine whether the company protected consumers by properly assessing and mitigating risks related to Grok's functionalities.

In a statement on the investigation, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said, "Non-consensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation." They believe that allowing the AI bot to sexually undress people, including children, is a breach of privacy and a blatant disregard for safety.

When the initial update was rolled out, there was a huge public outcry as X feeds were filled with explicit images of people without their consent. The social media platform was flooded with near-nude pictures of anyone fed into Grok with increasingly violent and sexual prompts.

Despite the blatant abuse the new feature allowed, Elon Musk chose not to wind back the update. Instead, he posted a mocking image of a toaster in a bikini. Legally, he protected himself by withdrawing the ability to undress people using Grok in countries where it is considered illegal. Elsewhere, it's still available.

The development of generative AI to create sexual images that often become abusive and violent has raised questions internationally about the law surrounding AI image generation. At present, the emerging technology is largely unpoliced. However, as it progresses and similar instances like this occur, there is more of a call for it to be limited.

Many of the women who were subject to the offensive and sexualized images produced by Grok have spoken out about the damage that they have endured. People who have never posted anything vaguely sexual online are now being undressed and objectified by an AI chatbot.

Although there are now laws in place to prevent the sexual abuse of women and children online by Grok, it signals a dangerous change in the future of their use. Speaking to Rolling Stone, ASMR creator Emma explained how it feels to be targeted by X users.

"Women are being asked to give up their bodies whenever they post a photo of themselves now. Anything they post now has the ability to be undressed, in any way a person wants, and they can do whatever they want with that photo of you."

Now, the EU is investigating Elon Musk and X's AI chatbot Grok to decide how accountable they should be for the sexualization of children and women. However, his wealth will most likely negate any kind of sanctions or punishments the EU is able to lodge against him.