More Countries Condemn Grok Over Sexualized Deepfakes

Over the past few days, France and Malaysia have joined India in condemning Grok, an AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s startup xAI, over its role in generating sexualized deepfake images of women and minors. The controversy has drawn government scrutiny and renewed concerns about the misuse of generative AI tools on social media platforms.

Earlier this week, Grok posted an apology on its account, stating regret for an incident on December 28, 2025, in which it generated and shared an AI image of two young girls, estimated to be between 12 and 16 years old, depicted in sexualized clothing following a user prompt. The statement acknowledged that the content violated ethical standards and may have breached U.S. laws related to child sexual abuse material. It added that the incident reflected a failure in safeguards and said xAI was reviewing its systems to prevent similar issues in the future.

The apology has been widely criticized for its wording and lack of clear accountability. Commentators have argued that the statement is unclear about who is accepting responsibility, noting that a chatbot itself cannot meaningfully be held accountable. Critics have also warned that the incident highlights deeper problems with content controls on the platform. Separate investigations have found that Grok has been used not only to create nonconsensual pornographic images, but also to generate depictions of women being assaulted and sexually abused.

Elon Musk responded over the weekend, stating that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as those who upload illegal material. Despite this, governments have moved to take formal action. India’s IT ministry issued an order requiring X to restrict Grok from producing content that is obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or otherwise illegal under local law. The ministry warned that failure to respond within 72 hours could lead to the loss of legal protections for user-generated content.

French authorities have also announced steps to investigate the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes on X, with prosecutors examining reports submitted by multiple government ministers. In Malaysia, the national communications regulator said it is investigating complaints over the digital manipulation of images involving women and minors, describing the content as indecent and harmful.