The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X over considerations its AI instrument Grok was used to create sexualised pictures of actual folks.
It follows an analogous announcement in January from the UK watchdog Ofcom.
Regina Doherty, a member of the European parliament representing Ireland, stated the Commission would assess whether or not “manipulated sexually explicit images” have been proven to customers within the EU.
A earlier assertion from X’s Safety account stated the social media platform had stopped Grok from digitally altering photos of individuals to take away their clothes in “jurisdictions where such content is illegal”.
But campaigners and victims stated the power to generate sexually specific photos utilizing the instrument ought to have “never happened” within the first place, and Ofcom stated its investigation would stay ongoing.
The EU regulator stated it might “impose interim measures” if X refuses to implement significant changes.
It stated it had additionally prolonged its ongoing investigation launched in December 2023 over dangers related to X’s recommender programs – the algorithm that recommends particular posts to customers.
Before the Commission’s announcement, Elon Musk posted an image on X on Monday showing to make mild of the brand new restrictions in place round Grok.
The X proprietor has beforehand criticised these scrutinising the app’s image-editing perform – notably the UK authorities – calling it “any excuse for censorship”.
On Sunday, the Grok account on X claimed greater than 5.5 billion pictures had been generated by the instrument in simply 30 days.
In an announcement to Reuters, Doherty stated there have been “serious questions” over if platforms akin to X had been assembly authorized obligations “to assess risks properly and to prevent illegal and harmful content from spreading”.
“The European Union has clear rules to protect people online,” she stated.
“Those rules must mean something in practice, especially when powerful technologies are deployed at scale.
“No firm working within the EU is above the regulation.”
A spokesperson from the Media Commission, Ireland’s media regulator, said it welcomed the news.
“There is not any place in our society for non-consensual intimate imagery abuse or youngster sexual abuse materials,” they said.
The move comes a month after the EU fined X €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges, saying they “deceive customers” because the firm is not “meaningfully verifying” who is behind the account.
In response, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accused the EU regulator of attacking and censoring US firms.
“The European Commission’s positive is not simply an assault on X, it is an assault on all American tech platforms and the American folks by international governments,” he said.
His remarks were reposted by Musk, who added “completely”.
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