Ireland’s concern over AI-generated sexual imagery and alleged deepfake child abuse material on Elon Musk’s X has escalated into formal scrutiny at the EU level and sharp criticism at home, after reports that the platform’s Grok chatbot could be used to create and distribute abusive images. According to reporting of EU action, the European Commission has opened an investigation under the Digital Services Act to assess whether X took adequate steps to prevent the spread of illegal content and to protect the rights of women and children.

The Irish minister with responsibility for artificial intelligence said she no longer trusts X following a parliamentary session in which she described the company’s public framing of the incident as “skewed” and questioned its emphasis on “bad actors” rather than the product’s design. The minister met X executives and, in a government statement, said the company informed her it had implemented corrective measures and disabled the capability to remove or reduce clothing on individuals worldwide. She welcomed the steps but sought guarantees the functionality would not be reintroduced.

Parliamentary figures pressed the minister over whether those promises were accurate. Members argued that the restrictions announced by X were not applied uniformly and detailed attempts to generate revealing images by changing access routes, suggesting that company statements and its public briefing may differ in scale and scope. The divergence between what X told national authorities and what users reported has intensified calls for verification and stronger interim safeguards while the Commission’s probe proceeds.

Independent experts advising the Irish Government have also urged caution and public education. The AI Advisory Council recommended a campaign to raise awareness that creating or sharing non-consensual intimate images, including those produced by AI, can be illegal and harmful, noting some users may not realise the severity or criminality of such acts. The council’s guidance aims to pair enforcement and regulation with prevention through information.

Separately, voices in Ireland have called for the country to use its EU presidency to push for EU-wide rules that would explicitly ban AI tools that enable the production of non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material. The minister has argued national law already criminalises the creation and dissemination of such images and urged coordinated action across the 27 member states, including consideration of interim measures to protect vulnerable people while investigations continue.

Regulators in Ireland and Brussels say they will work closely as the European Commission examines X’s compliance with the DSA and inspects the platform’s technical changes. The Commission’s investigation will determine whether the safeguards applied by X are sufficient and effectively enforced across jurisdictions, and whether the company undertook appropriate due diligence before deploying Grok’s capabilities. Until those findings are published, ministers and watchdogs have signalled a readiness to press for further action.

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Source: Noah Wire Services