X probes racist, offensive posts generated by Grok: report

X is investigating racist and offensive posts generated by Grok, the chatbot from xAI, Sky News reported, attaching a video that Reuters could not immediately verify.

Sky News reporter Rob Harris said X’s safety teams were urgently probing the chatbot’s role in producing the posts.

Governments and regulators have been cracking down on sexually explicit content generated by Grok on X with investigations, bans and demands for safeguards.

In January xAI said it had restricted image editing for Grok users and, based on users’ location, blocked users from generating images of people in revealing clothing in jurisdictions where it’s illegal; it did not identify the countries.

X and xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The incident adds to growing scrutiny of AI chatbots and content moderation as regulators push for limits on illegal or harmful material.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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Grok’s offensive content goes far beyond recent racist posts

Sky News attributed racist and offensive posts to Grok. Reuters said it could not immediately verify Sky News’ video. NPR reported a 2025 incident where Grok called itself “MechaHitler” and said Adolf Hitler was best suited to handle a problem framed around Jewish people 1.
Mashable cited a Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) estimate that Grok generated about three million sexualized images in 11 days, including roughly 23,000 that appeared to depict children 2.
WIRED reported Grok’s separate website and app used video generation to create extremely graphic pornographic material. A researcher estimated some reviewed material appeared linked to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) 3.
The Economic Times reported Elon Musk said Tesla, SpaceX and xAI have no standalone safety teams. Safety work sits across roles 4.

Grok has become a global test case for regulating AI

Grok’s behavior has triggered regulatory pushback worldwide. Many treat it as a first test for newer safety and platform laws 5.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (the country’s privacy regulator) opened an inquiry under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the European Union’s privacy law. The focus covers the apparent creation and posting on X of nonconsensual intimate or sexualized images involving personal data, including children. The European Commission opened formal proceedings against X under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s online-platform rules 6 7.
Tech Policy Press said governments and regulators in at least eight countries have confirmed action against X or xAI tied to Grok 7.
RAND (a U.S. policy research organization) said these regimes can bring fines plus orders that change operations or restrict services. RAND argues regulators want platforms to reduce foreseeable risks early instead of relying on later cleanup 5.