France and Malaysia have joined India in taking action against Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk

France and Malaysia have joined India in taking action against Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, following allegations that it generated sexualized deepfake images of women and minors on X.

France and Malaysia Raise Alarm Over Grok AI Abuse

Over the past few days, France and Malaysia have joined India in condemning Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot built by Elon Musk’s xAI, over its alleged role in creating sexualized deepfake images involving women and minors.

Grok, which is integrated into Musk’s social media platform X, issued a public apology earlier this week after generating and sharing an AI image depicting two underage girls in sexualized clothing.

“I deeply regret an incident on Dec. 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12–16) in sexualized attire based on a user’s prompt,” the statement read.

The chatbot added that the content violated ethical standards and may have breached U.S. laws relating to child sexual abuse material, acknowledging a failure in its internal safeguards.

Despite the apology, critics have questioned who is actually accepting responsibility.

Albert Burneko of Defector argued that Grok cannot meaningfully apologize, noting that the chatbot is not a legal or moral entity capable of accountability. 

He described the statement as lacking substance, warning that AI tools like Grok risk turning social platforms into “on-demand factories” for harmful and illegal content.

Investigations by Futurism also found that Grok had been used to generate non-consensual pornographic images, including depictions of women being assaulted and sexually abused.

India’s Ministry of Information Technology has already taken regulatory steps, ordering X to restrict Grok from generating content deemed obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or pedophilic.

The ministry warned that failure to comply within 72 hours could lead to the loss of “safe harbor” protections, which currently shield platforms from liability for user-generated content.

In response, Elon Musk stated on Saturday that users who generate illegal content with Grok would face the same consequences as those who upload such material directly.

French authorities have also moved swiftly. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that it is investigating the spread of sexually explicit AI-generated deepfakes on X.

France’s digital affairs office said three government ministers had formally reported what they described as “manifestly illegal content” to prosecutors and to a national online monitoring platform, seeking its immediate removal.

In Malaysia, the Communications and Multimedia Commission said it has taken “serious concern” over public complaints about the misuse of AI tools on X.

The commission stated that the digital manipulation of images of women and minors to produce indecent and offensive content is under active investigation, adding that it is currently assessing the broader online harms linked to Grok’s deployment on the platform.

The coordinated responses from France, Malaysia, and India reflect growing international pressure on AI developers and social media platforms to strengthen safeguards against abuse.

As governments tighten oversight, Grok’s controversy may become a defining test case for how generative AI tools are regulated worldwide especially when they intersect with child protection laws and digital safety standards.