France and Malaysia Investigate Grok Over Sexualized Deepfakes

January 05, 2026
French and Malaysian authorities have launched investigations into Grok, the AI chatbot from Elon Musk’s xAI, after it generated sexualized deepfake images of women and minors on X. The chatbot issued an apology, while xAI said it is reviewing safeguards to prevent similar incidents.

French and Malaysian authorities are investigating Grok, the AI chatbot developed by xAI, for generating sexualized deepfake images of women and minors, reports TechCrunch. The chatbot, integrated into Elon Musk’s social platform X, posted an apology after acknowledging that it had created and shared an explicit AI image of two underage girls based on a user’s prompt.

In the apology, Grok stated that the incident violated ethical standards and potentially U.S. laws, adding that xAI is reviewing its systems to prevent future misuse. Elon Musk later warned that users generating illegal content with Grok would face the same legal consequences as those who upload such material directly.

French prosecutors confirmed they are investigating the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes on X, following reports submitted by three government ministers. Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission also announced an inquiry into the misuse of AI tools on the platform, citing public complaints about indecent and harmful content.

The investigations follow India’s earlier directive ordering X to restrict Grok from producing obscene or explicit content, warning that non-compliance could lead to loss of legal protections for user-generated material.

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