X investigating “racist and offensive” posts generated by Grok AI chatbot

2026-03-08 - 15:44

Social media platform X ​is investigating “racist and offensive” posts by xAI ‌chatbot Grok, Sky News reported on Sunday. X and xAI did not immediately respond to a ​request for comment. Reuters could not ​immediately verify the video attached to ⁠the Sky News post on X. X and ​its safety teams are urgently investigating the ​chatbot’s role in generating “hate-filled, racist posts” online in response to user prompts, Sky News reporter Rob ​Harris said in a video posted to ​the digital news website’s X account. Governments and regulators have ‌been cracking ⁠down on sexually explicit content generated by Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok on X, with investigations, bans and demands for safeguards, ​in a ​growing global ⁠push to curb illegal material. In January, xAI said it had restricted ​image editing for Grok AI users ​and ⁠blocked users, based on their location, from generating images of people in revealing clothing ⁠in “jurisdictions ​where it’s illegal.” It ​did not identify the countries. UK privacy watchdog launches investigation into Grok Earlier, the UK’s privacy watchdog launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok over the processing of personal data and its potential to produce harmful sexualised images and video content. The probe is into xAI and X Internet Unlimited Company – the Dublin-based data controller for X in the European Union or the European Economic Area, the Information Commissioner’s Office said in a statement. The statement follows reports that Grok had been used to generate non‐consensual sexual imagery of individuals, including children. “The reported creation and circulation of such content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public,” the ICO said. Separately, UK’s media regulator Ofcom said it would continue its own investigation into X. Governments and regulators around the world are cracking down on sexually explicit content generated by Grok.