The European Commission has intensified its scrutiny of Elon Musk's xAI platform Grok, with officials calling the AI tool's misuse for generating sexually explicit images "illegal and appalling." This escalation comes as regulatory pressure mounts globally, with India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) also taking cognisance of widespread reports concerning Grok's exploitation for creating non-consensual deepfake content.

EU Takes Strong Stance Against Grok Misuse

EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier delivered a stern warning regarding Grok's controversial "spicy mode" feature, which has been used to generate explicit sexual content including childlike images. "Grok is now offering a 'spicy mode' showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with childlike images. This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling," Regnier told reporters. "This has no place in Europe."

The European Commission confirmed it is "very seriously looking into" user complaints about the abuse of Grok's image generation capabilities. The investigation focuses on the platform's failure to prevent users from creating and circulating non-consensual explicit images of others.

Paris Prosecutor Expands Investigation

Paris's Public Prosecutor Office has broadened its inquiry into X to include allegations that the platform facilitated the creation and proliferation of child pornography through Grok. This expansion represents a significant escalation in legal scrutiny, moving beyond regulatory oversight to potential criminal investigation.

The probe, which has been ongoing since December 2023, now encompasses concerns about minors being targeted through malicious attacks using Grok's image generation features.

Timeline of Global Regulatory Response

Complaints against Grok intensified after xAI released the "edit image" feature in the latter half of December. Reports indicate that X users were tagging Grok to render other users in sexually explicit manners, with minors also being targeted by these malicious attacks.

India Joins Global Regulatory Action

India's MeitY has officially acknowledged the misuse of Grok for generating obscene images. S Krishnan, Secretary at MeitY, confirmed that the ministry is examining the matter and will act swiftly. "It has been brought to our notice today and we are taking action on this and we will make sure that we act on this fairly quickly," Krishnan stated.

The situation in India escalated around New Year's Eve, with manipulated images being circulated widely without consent, raising serious concerns about online safety and AI-enabled sexual abuse.

Platform Response and Enforcement Warnings

Musk has issued warnings that users creating illegal content through Grok will face the same consequences as those directly uploading prohibited material. xAI has implemented stricter measures, hiding Grok's media feature for image generation and stating: "xAI has implemented strict guidelines to prevent Grok from generating explicit or non-consensual content."

However, the EU's Regnier emphasized the seriousness of enforcement actions: "I think X is very well aware that we're very serious about DSA enforcement, they will remember the fine that they have received from us back in December. So, we encourage all companies to be compliant because the commission is serious about enforcement."

Under the Digital Services Act, the EU can impose fines of up to 6% of a platform's yearly global revenue for failure to tackle illegal content and disinformation or follow transparency rules. Cyber-safety experts continue to warn that current restrictions may be insufficient, calling for stronger enforcement and clearer accountability frameworks for platforms deploying generative AI tools.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI has acquired a third building to significantly expand its data center operations, marking another major step in the billionaire's ambitious AI infrastructure development plans. The expansion will bring the company's total artificial intelligence computing capacity to nearly 2 gigawatts.

Strategic Expansion Details

Musk announced the acquisition on Tuesday, December 31, through a post on X, revealing that xAI has purchased a building called MACROHARDRR. The facility is planned as a supersized data center outside Memphis, Tennessee, strategically positioned near the company's existing Colossus infrastructure.

Colossus Data Center Complex

The new acquisition expands xAI's existing data center infrastructure in the Memphis area. The company currently operates the original Colossus facility in Memphis, which is touted as the world's largest supercomputer cluster, and is constructing the second site, Colossus 2, nearby. This multi-facility approach demonstrates xAI's commitment to building substantial AI training capabilities to compete more effectively with industry leaders like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude.

xAI plans to expand its supercomputer Colossus to house at least 1 million graphics processing units. Both the new data center and Colossus 2 are strategically located close to a natural gas power plant that xAI is building in the area, along with access to other power sources.

Infrastructure and Environmental Considerations

The startup plans to begin converting the newly purchased warehouse into a data center in 2026. The substantial infrastructure development reflects xAI's vision for training increasingly advanced AI models through massive computational resources.

However, the expansion of AI infrastructure has drawn criticism from environmental activists, as data centers consume large amounts of energy. The combination of real estate acquisitions, advanced chip procurement, and facility construction represents a comprehensive approach to building next-generation AI training capabilities, reinforcing xAI's position as a major player in the artificial intelligence infrastructure space.