ICO opens probe into Elon Musk’s Grok AI over sexualised content
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has opened investigations in relation to the Grok AI system and its potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content.
The probe into the tech tool owned by Elon Musk’s Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC) and X.AI comes after the chatbot made headlines last month over the generation of explicit, sexualised images, including of children.
The watchdog said: “The reported creation and circulation of such content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public.”
The move follows its announcement last month, in which it confirmed it had contacted XIUC and X.AI to seek urgent information about these reports.
The ICO’s William Malcom, executive director of regulatory risk and innovation, said: “The reports about Grok raise deeply troubling questions about how people’s personal data has been used to generate intimate or sexualised images without their knowledge or consent, and whether the necessary safeguards were put in place to prevent this.”
Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, the ICO can issue fines of up to £17.5m or 4 per cent of an organisation’s annual worldwide turnover, whichever is higher.
Iain Wilson, managing partner at Brett Wilson, explained: “If there is any chance Grok has created these sorts of images, X would be well-advised to suspend the service immediately pending a full internal investigation and any necessary safety modifications.”
“Concern about the publication of non-consensual and child pornography is something that crosses culture war divides and is not something that can be brushed off as ‘an attack on free speech,” he added.
Another probe by the media watchdog
The ICO confirmed on Tuesday that it was “working closely with Ofcom” as well as international regulators.
Last month, Ofcom opened its own investigation into whether Musk’s X done has enough to protect Brits from explicit deepfakes generated by its Grok AI.
Today, Ofcom also issued another note on its investigation, noting that it is not investigating X.AI at this time but is examining whether to launch an investigation into whether Grok’s owners comply with the rules on pornographic material.
Ofcom is currently in the investigation stage, requesting information and analysing the evidence. Its next stage will be to issue a provision decision to X so it can make a representation.