The DPC inquiry wants to find out whether X complied with GDPR.
Ireland’s data protection watchdog has launched a “large-scale” inquiry into X after reports found millions of non-consensually generated sexually explicit or suggestive content created using Grok AI. X’s European headquarters is situated in Dublin.
Users on X could prompt Grok to ‘nudify’ people after the platform outfitted the AI bot with the ability to edit images late last December. Prompts asking Grok to undress people generally affected women and children, analysis found.
After severe backlash, X decided to limit the chatbot’s image-editing capabilities to paid subscribers on the platform, before geo-blocking Grok’s ‘nudification’ ability in jurisdictions “where it’s illegal”. However, it seems that such features can still be accessed via a VPN.
The Data Protection Commission’s (DPC) inquiry wants to find out whether X Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC) complied with its GDPR obligations. Specifically, the lawfulness of data processing, and the legal requirements to carry out a data protection impact assessment with regard to EU data subjects.
“The DPC has been engaging with XIUC since media reports first emerged a number of weeks ago concerning the alleged ability of X users to prompt the @Grok account on X to generate sexualised images of real people, including children,” said DPC deputy commissioner Graham Doyle.
“The DPC has commenced a large-scale inquiry which will examine XIUC’s compliance with some of their fundamental obligations under the GDPR in relation to the matters at hand”.
Ireland’s inquiry into X comes after the European Commission and the UK government launched a similar investigation into the Elon Musk-owned platform last month.
Meanwhile, a year-long inquiry by French authorities has expanded to probe Grok’s possible role in disseminating Holocaust denials and sexual deepfakes. California also launched a similar investigation into X and Grok’s parent company xAI last month.
Alongside this, the EU is continuing with a separate years-long investigation into X to assess if the platform mitigated risks stemming from its recommender systems, including the impact of the recently announced switch to a Grok-based recommender system.
Against this backdrop, however, where new legal troubles crop up for X once every while, Musk’s space-tech business SpaceX announced that it acquired xAI to create the world’s largest private company, estimated to be worth around $1.25trn.
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