The European Union is also subject to an official probe of X (previously Twitter) by Brussels into its Grok AI chatbot, which allegedly creates and spreads manipulated sexualized images of girls and women across the European Union.
Virkkunen said.
With this investigation, we will determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it treated rights of European citizens including those of women and children – as collateral damage of its service.
What Triggered the Probe ?
The European Commission initiated the inquiry when it identified that it is possible to request Grok to make sexualized deep-faked pictures, such as of women and even children, by entering only basic text messages like put her in a bikini or remove her clothes.
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Liz Kendal stated:
This Government will do everything in our power to keep women and especially children safe online. I can confirm that we will build on all the measures that I have outlined and will legislate in the Crime and Policing Bill, which is going through Parliament, to criminalize nudification apps.
Following the Digital Services Act, very large platforms like X would be forced to carefully evaluate and reduce systemic risks in the system deployment of new functions, especially in 27 EU countries. It is now time to evaluate whether X was right in gauging these dangers before rolling out Groks image-generation facilities in Europe and whether it has done enough to limit illicit content.
X’s Response and Past Fines
X has also pointed to changes made by xAI at the beginning of January 2026, such as impediments against image editing by Grok used and blocking of users in some areas to produce images of people in suggestive attire where local laws forbid such material.
Nevertheless, EU authorities view these measures as undesirable but inadequate and the Commission believes that it has reasons to suspect that X did not perform an appropriate ad-hoc risk assessment pursuant to the DSA.
X already faces another DSA investigation that was initiated in December 2023 over its recommender systems and fined €120 million in December 2025 because of violations of the transparency requirements of its blue checkmark and researcher-access to data.
Brussels is now threatening that in case X does not make material reforms, it can issue interim measures against X, such as the suspension of specific features.
The Stakes for Musk and the EU
The EU considers the Grok probe as a critical test as to whether the Big Tech will consider the rights of the European citizens particularly women and children merely collateral damages that occurred as a result of its services. Violating the DSA may lead to fines in every part of the world, in the case of X, this might be hundreds of millions of euros.
The reaction of Washington is also consequential; the Trump government has already attacked the EU on its digital crackdown and hinted at retaliatory tariffs thus contributing to the enhanced issue as another hot point in the transatlantic technology regulatory battles.
In case the EU decides that X is guilty, it may force drastic changes to the design, moderation, and restriction systems of Grok in Europe, which would serve as the precedent of policing AI chatbots in the European market.