The European Commission is in touch with Elon Musk’s social media platform X following the antisemitic comments its AI system Grok made this week, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday.
In a series of posts on Tuesday, Grok said it was “sceptical” that the Nazi regime killed six million Jews during the Holocaust, incorrectly stating that there is no “primary evidence” and saying “numbers can be manipulated for political narratives”.
As a result, the Polish Digital Minister wrote to EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen asking for an investigation into the platform, under the bloc’s online platform rules, the Digital Services Act (DSA), national media reported.
Thomas Regnier, the Commission’s spokesperson on digital, confirmed that the EU executive had received the Polish letter and added that a response will follow “in due course”.
“Grok is integrated into X, which is already designated as a Very Large Online Platform under the DSA, X has the obligation to assess the risks it poses, including Grok,” Regnier said.
“We take this seriously; we will make sure the DSA is followed. I can confirm that we are in touch with the national authorities and X itself,” he added.
Grok previously showed "significant flaws and limitations" when verifying information about the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran (June 13-24), Researchers at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab said in June.
Under the DSA, the Commission can send information requests to the platform or start a formal investigation.
The EU executive already opened an investigation into X in December 2023 - for allowing dark patterns and failing to curb the spread of illegal content – the probe has not been wrapped up yet.
DSA fines may total up to 6% of the company's annual global revenue, but if Musk is held liable personally, the Commission would also account for the revenues of companies such as Space Exploration Technologies and Neuralink. There is no clarity yet on whether this will be the case.
