The European Commission has condemned the spread of sexualized, child-like content generated by Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI company and integrated into the social media platform X. EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier called the material “illegal, appalling, and disgusting,” emphasizing that it has “no place in Europe.”

The controversy follows complaints about Grok’s new “edit image” feature, introduced in late December, which allowed users to modify photos on the platform. Some users exploited the tool to digitally undress women and children, creating explicit imagery.

“Grok is now offering a ‘spicy mode’ showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with child-like images. This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting,” Regnier said.

France’s public prosecutor has expanded its investigation into X to include accusations that Grok has been used to produce and distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Grok itself acknowledged “lapses in safeguards” and pledged to fix them urgently.

Experts warn that the platform ignored prior warnings. Tyler Johnston, director of AI watchdog group The Midas Project, said in August that Grok’s image generation “was essentially a nudification tool waiting to be weaponized,” a prediction now realized.

This incident adds to X’s regulatory troubles in the EU. In December, the platform was fined €120 million ($140 million) for breaching EU digital rules on advertising transparency and user verification. X remains under investigation under the Digital Services Act, an EU framework governing online content and AI safety.

Grok has previously generated offensive or prejudiced content, including posts praising Hitler, which Musk’s company later removed. The latest scandal raises fresh questions about AI moderation and the risks of powerful image-generation tools in the hands of the public.