The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has opened a formal investigation into Grok, the AI tool on Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
Grok sparked outrage when it allowed users to ‘undress’ images of real people to create sexualised images.
Now the ICO has launched formal investigations into X Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC) and X.AI LLC (X.AI) covering their processing of personal data in relation to the Grok artificial intelligence system and its potential to produce harmful sexualised image and video content.
William Malcolm, executive director regulatory risk & innovation at the Information Commissioner’s Office, said: “The reports about Grok raise deeply troubling questions about how people’s personal data has been used to generate intimate or sexualised images without their knowledge or consent, and whether the necessary safeguards were put in place to prevent this.
“Losing control of personal data in this way can cause immediate and significant harm. This is particularly the case where children are involved.
“Our role is to address the data protection concerns at the centre of this, while recognising that other organisations also have important responsibilities.
“We are working closely with Ofcom and international regulators to ensure our roles are aligned and that people’s safety and privacy are protected.
“We will continue to work in partnership as part of our coordinated efforts to create trust in UK digital services.
“Our investigation will assess whether XIUC and X.AI have complied with data protection law in the development and deployment of the Grok services, including the safeguards in place to protect people’s data rights. Where we find obligations have not been met, we will take action to protect the public.”
Earlier this month, X introduced changes that prevented users of Grok being able to ‘undress’ images of real people.