Coimisiún na Meán has said it is engaging with the European Commission over concerns that Elon Musk's AI tool Grok is being used to create sexually explicit images of women and children on X.
The xAI chatbot has been responding to user prompts on the social network asking it to remove the clothing from images of women, including minors, to further post them on X.
In a statement to RTÉ News, Ireland’s media watchdog said that the sharing of non-consensual intimate images and the generation of child sexual abuse material is illegal and that there is an obligation on platforms to act on reports of illegal media content, under its Online Safety Framework.
Coimisiún na Meán said that under the Digital Services Act, the European Commission is responsible for the "oversight of very large online platforms with their requirements to assess and mitigate risks that their services may create in relation to the proliferation of illegal content online and the protection of fundamental rights, including protection for minors".
The watchdog encouraged users to report illegal content to the online platform they saw it on and also to Coimisiún na Meán.
Reports also can be made to gardaí and to Hotline.ie, it added.
The Green Party’s media spokesperson earlier called on Coimisiún na Meán to "step up and act" on this "potential criminal breach".
Hazel Chu said social media platforms have shown "complete disdain for the consequences of their actions and their manipulations".
Ms Chu said Coimisiún na Meán was set up to "protect vulnerable users", adding it "should use its powers to do just that".
The UK's media watchdog Ofcom said today that it had contacted X over complaints that its AI tool Grok is generating fake sexually explicit images of children.
"Tackling illegal online harm and protecting children remain urgent priorities for Ofcom," a watchdog spokesperson said.
"We are aware of serious concerns raised about a feature on Grok on X that produces undressed images of people and sexualised images of children."
The spokesperson said Ofcom had made "urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK".
Depending on X's reply, the watchdog will then "determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation".
The EU also said it said it was "seriously looking" into the complaints against Grok, which it said was "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," EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier said.
"This has no place in Europe."
Grok on Friday said it had identified flaws in the artificial intelligence tool which it described as "lapses in safeguards" and said it was working "urgently" to fix them.
Today, X did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the European Commission's or Ofcom's statements.
In its last message to Reuters on the matter, X said: "Legacy Media Lies."
Online, Mr Musk has shrugged off the concerns over Grok's undressing spree, posting laughing-so-hard-I'm-crying emojis in response to public figures edited to look like they were in bikinis.
Additional reporting: PA, AFP, Reuters
