PARIS — French authorities will probe the surge of sexually explicit deepfakes created by the AI platform Grok on X, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. French lawmakers Arthur Delaporte and Eric Bothorel contacted the prosecutor’s office on January 2 after Grok generated thousands of non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes that were published on X. The prosecutor’s office mentioned that these actions have been included in the current investigation into X, with potential penalties of two years’ imprisonment and a €60,000 fine.
The lawmakers confirmed filing reports with authorities. Over the past two days, hundreds of women and teenagers reported their social media photos being “undressed” by Grok, the AI tool within X, at users’ requests. These AI-generated images “violate the dignity of the people depicted,” Delaporte stated in his letter to the public prosecutor obtained by POLITICO. The French digital affairs office, when contacted by POLITICO, mentioned that three government ministers—Roland Lescure, Anne Le Hénanff, and Aurore Bergé—had reported “manifestly illegal content” to the public prosecutor and an online surveillance platform, Pharos, seeking “immediate removal.”
France’s High Commissioner for Children, Sarah El Haïry, expressed her outrage at these practices. The case will strengthen the ongoing investigation by the French cybercrime unit against X, expanded in November to include antisemitic and Holocaust denial content spread by Grok. X did not respond to POLITICO’s request for comment by publication time.
A post by Grok on X, regarding concerns over images of minors, stated: “There are isolated cases where users prompted for and received AI images depicting minors in minimal clothing.” Grok noted that “xAI has safeguards, but improvements are ongoing to block such requests entirely.” The European Commission did not comment by publication time.
Eliza Gkritsi contributed to this story.
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