EU could shut down Grok
Published 26 January 2026 at 13:59

EU. The European Commission is launching a formal procedure against Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok - and a shutdown of service across the EU could result. The background media hysteria around Grok being used to depict Ebba Busch and other female power holders in bikinis.

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The European Commission is now escalating its action against Elon Musk's platform X and the associated AI chatbot Grok.

On Monday, the Commission announced the opening of a new procedure under the Digital Services Act, the DSA.

The procedure applies to features of Grunk that make it possible to create and manipulate images and videos of real politicians and other power holders with the help of artificial intelligence. Particular attention was a bikini image created depicting Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch.

"Unconcerned sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent and unacceptable form of humiliation," EU technology commissioner Henna Virkkunen said.Handelsblatt.

A senior EU official describes the content as manifestly illegal.

The Commission threatens the extreme that Grok can be completely shut down within the EU if the company does not take sufficient action.

In parallel, the Commission is broadening an ongoing case against the X Recommendation System.

The decision comes in a sensitive political situation. According to reports, the European Commission had planned to open the Grok case already last week, but the process was temporarily halted by President Ursula von der Leyen's Cabinet out of concern for a negative reaction from US President Donald Trump.

Trump had previously threatened new tariffs against several EU countries if there was no settlement around the annexation proposed by him. Although customs threats were later withdrawn, the risk of escalation was assessed as significant.

The DSAs Act allows the EU to issue fines of up to six per cent of a company's global annual turnover or, ultimately, to shut down services within the Union. In December, X was fined by €120 million for lack of transparency, misleading verification symbols and insufficient access to data for researchers. The fine has not yet been paid.

X and the company xAI have imposed some restrictions in Grok, including blocking the ability to manipulate images of children. However, according to the European Commission, the measures are insufficient, citing that it is still possible to create "sexualised" images of adults without their consent.
https://www.friatider.se/eu-kan-slacka-ner-grok