The investigation under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) will assess whether the company, whose European headquarters are in Dublin, properly assessed and mitigated risks associated with the deployment of AI chatbot Grok’s functionalities into X in the EU.

This includes risks related to the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, such as manipulated sexually explicit images, including content that may amount to child sexual abuse material.

The Commission said these risks “seem to have materialised, exposing citizens in the EU to serious harm”.

The investigation will therefore also investigate whether X is complying with its DSA obligations to “diligently assess and mitigate systemic risks, including of the dissemination of illegal content, negative effects in relation to gender-based violence, and serious negative consequences to physical and mental well-being stemming from deployments of Grok’s functionalities into its platform”.

It will also assess the company’s compliance with the requirement to “conduct and transmit to the Commission an ad hoc risk assessment report for Grok’s functionalities in the X service with a critical impact on X’s risk profile prior to their deployment”.

In parallel with this, the Commission has extended the scope of an existing investigation into X which was launched in December 2023.

This investigation will now also seek to establish whether X has properly assessed and mitigated all systemic risks, as defined in the DSA, associated with its recommender systems, including the impact of its recently announced switch to a Grok-based recommender system.

The specific parts of the DSA which X may have infringed are Articles 34(1) and (2), 35(1) and 42(2).

The European Commission said it closely collaborated with Ireland’s Coimisiún na Meán in preparing for the investigation. The Irish regulator “will be associated to this investigation” as the national digital services co-ordinator in X’s country of establishment in the EU.

In a statement, Coimisiún na Meán said: “We welcome the European Commission’s decision to open a formal investigation in X, following our intensive engagement with the European Commission on this issue in recent weeks.

“European and Irish law puts clear responsibilities on online platforms relating to illegal content, and legislation is underpinned by a pan-European system of regulatory enforcement overseen by the European Commission and national regulators.

“We are ready to play our part in the investigation.”

Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said: “Sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation.

“With this investigation, we will determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it treated rights of European citizens — including those of women and children — as collateral damage of its service.”