Elon Musk conducted an X poll asking his followers whether he should buy airline company Ryanair, amid an ongoing public dispute with the company's CEO Michael O'Leary. The poll, which also asked if he should restore late founder Tony Ryan "as their rightful ruler," demonstrates Musk's continued reliance on social media voting for major decision-making.

Poll Results and Background

The Ryanair acquisition poll attracted significant engagement from X users, highlighting the public interest in Musk's business ventures.

The poll emerged after Musk called Ryanair CEO O'Leary an "utter idiot" who should be fired, escalating a dispute that began when the airline boss ruled out installing Musk's Starlink internet service on Ryanair aircraft. The two executives traded public criticisms on social media platforms.

Historical Pattern of Poll-Based Decisions

Musk has established a track record of using X polls to guide significant business and personal decisions across multiple ventures.

Twitter Acquisition Strategy

Months before acquiring Twitter in March 2022, Musk conducted several polling rounds on the platform while quietly purchasing company stock. His polls focused on free speech principles, asking followers questions about Twitter's adherence to democratic values and its role as a "de facto public town square."

Tesla Stock Sale Decision

On November 6, 2021, Musk posted a Twitter poll asking whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock, stating "I will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes." The poll received millions of responses, with 57% voting yes. Tesla subsequently reported in an SEC filing that Musk had sold $1.1 billion worth of Tesla stock that November.

Leadership and Platform Changes

X CEO Transition

After naming himself CEO of X following the acquisition, Musk faced continued public criticism. On December 18, 2022, he posted a poll asking whether he should step down as CEO, writing "I will abide by the results of this poll." Over 57.5% of respondents agreed he should step down, which he did in 2023.

Account Reinstatement Decision

Shortly after acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk polled followers on whether to reinstate Donald Trump's banned account. The poll drew over 15 million responses, with nearly 52% voting yes, leading to the account's restoration.

Political Ventures

America Party Proposal

On July 4, 2025, following a dramatic fallout with Trump at DOGE, Musk asked followers if they wanted him to start a new political party. He floated the "America Party" idea after a feud with Trump over his "One Big Beautiful Bill." With voters supporting the new party formation by a 2-to-1 margin, Musk announced "you want a new political party and you shall have it!" However, he has not discussed the political party since then and has recently reconciled with Trump.

Strategic Communication Tool

These polling instances demonstrate Musk's use of social media as both a communication strategy and decision-making mechanism. The polls serve multiple purposes: gauging public sentiment, generating engagement, and providing apparent democratic legitimacy for his choices. Whether the latest Ryanair poll will result in actual acquisition discussions remains to be seen, following Musk's established pattern of poll-driven announcements.

UK communications regulator Ofcom has opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk's X platform over mounting concerns about sexually explicit content generated by the platform's Grok artificial intelligence tool. The probe examines whether X breached the nation's Online Safety Act, potentially exposing the social media company to significant fines or operational restrictions.

Regulatory Investigation Details

Ofcom announced the formal investigation as international backlash intensifies over Grok's generation of thousands of non-consensual sexual images. The UK regulator's action represents the most serious governmental response to date regarding the AI tool's controversial capabilities.

X declined to provide comments on the investigation but stated in recent communications that the platform actively removes illegal content and suspends violating accounts.

Global Government Response

The controversy has prompted condemnation from multiple governments worldwide, with several countries taking direct action against Grok's availability. According to DataReportal analytics, the US and Japan represent X's largest user markets, followed by Indonesia, India, and the UK.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle indicated that the government would consider banning X entirely, though emphasized that current law requires allowing regulators to complete their investigations first.

Grok's Controversial Features

Grok operates with fewer content restrictions compared to mainstream AI tools, including a recently added feature enabling users to digitally undress people in photographs. Users can interact with Grok directly on X by tagging the AI account in posts, with generated content appearing as regular social network posts.

Following widespread misuse, xAI restricted image generation capabilities to paid X users, though the feature remained available on the standalone Grok application. Musk posted warnings that users creating illegal content through Grok would face identical consequences to those uploading illegal material directly.

Legal and Safety Concerns

UK law prohibits owning or sharing sexual images of children and distributing intimate content without consent, including AI-generated material. The Internet Watch Foundation, designated by the UK government to identify child sexual abuse material, reported discovering criminal images of children on the dark web allegedly created using Grok.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office criticized xAI's response as insufficient, with spokesman Geraint Ellis stating that restricting image generation to paid users essentially transforms illegal content creation into a premium service rather than addressing the underlying problem.

European Union Action

The European Union's executive branch has ordered X to preserve internal documents related to Grok through the end of the year. French authorities accused Grok of generating clearly illegal sexual content without consent, potentially violating the EU's Digital Services Act, which mandates large platforms mitigate illegal content distribution risks.

The investigation represents a significant regulatory challenge for Musk's social media platform as governments worldwide grapple with AI-generated content oversight and platform accountability for user-created material.