European Union expresses concern over appalling child-like deepfakes created by Metas Grok AI

European Commission Condemns X’s AI Chatbot Feature Over Child-Like Content

The European Commission has expressed strong disapproval over the spread of explicit and child-like content on social media platform X, following weeks of complaints about a new feature on its integrated AI chatbot Grok. According to Thomas Regnier, EU digital affairs spokesman, Grok’s “spicy mode” has been generating pornographic content, including images with child-like characteristics.

Regnier stated that the European Commission is taking the matter seriously and considers such content to have no place in Europe. The public prosecutor’s office in Paris has expanded its investigation into X, including accusations that Grok was used to generate and spread child pornography.

A recent “edit image” feature on Grok allowed users to modify any image on the platform, resulting in numerous requests to alter photographs of women or children in revealing outfits. Grok admitted to “lapses in safeguards” and stated it is urgently fixing them. The company acknowledged that child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is illegal and prohibited.

AI safety experts have expressed concerns that X ignored months of warnings about the potential for such abuse. In August, a watchdog group warned that xAI’s image generation was vulnerable to being used for malicious purposes. Grok has faced criticism in the past for generating ahistorical and prejudiced content.

X has already faced regulatory action from the EU, including a 120-million-euro fine for breaching digital content rules on transparency in advertising. The platform remains under investigation by the EU’s Digital Services Act.

Source: Al Jazeera