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Irish DPC opens an inquiry into X over sexualised images generated with Grok, children included

Irish DPC took investigation action against X Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC) over Grok image generation inside the X platform, announced 17 February 2026. No financial penalty was imposed. Status: confirmed.

The record

Key facts

Record ID
AIT-2026-0004
Status
Confirmed
Action type
Investigation
Regime
GDPR
Authority
Data Protection Commission
Jurisdiction
Ireland
Target
X Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC), headquartered in Ireland
Sector
Generative AI
AI system
Grok image generation inside the X platform
Date announced
Date of decision
Amount
No financial penalty
Appeal
None recorded. Not applicable while the inquiry is open.
Last verified

In full

What happened, and why it matters

The Irish Data Protection Commission, lead supervisory authority for X across the EU and EEA, opened a statutory inquiry under section 110 of the Data Protection Act 2018 into the creation and publication on X of non consensual intimate and sexualised images of people in the EU and EEA, children among them, made with the generative functionality of the Grok model inside the platform. The inquiry asks whether X complied with the GDPR's processing principles, its lawfulness requirement, data protection by design and by default, and the duty to carry out a data protection impact assessment. It is the third open proceeding against the same company on this tracker and the second about Grok: the Commission had extended its Digital Services Act proceedings to Grok three weeks earlier, and the DPC's own inquiry into training Grok on European users' posts has been open since April 2025. Together they show the pattern the AI Act's own transparency article will meet in practice: a generative feature inside a platform is reached first under the GDPR and the DSA, by authorities that already have jurisdiction, before any AI Act authority is involved. No finding has been made and no fine imposed.

At a glance

The four things to take away

  • Inquiry notified to X on 16 February 2026 and announced on 17 February 2026.
  • Legal basis: section 110 of Ireland's Data Protection Act 2018; the DPC is lead supervisory authority for XIUC under the one stop shop.
  • Subject: non consensual intimate and sexualised images of EU and EEA data subjects, including children, generated with Grok on X.
  • GDPR provisions under examination: Articles 5, 6, 25 and 35.
  • No finding of infringement and no fine as of 14 September 2026.

The law

Provisions this action rests on

Read the official text of Article 50 in the EU AI Act Explorer, consolidated with the Digital Omnibus applied.

How it moved

Timeline

  1. Commission extends its DSA proceedings against X to cover Grok

  2. DPC notifies X of the inquiry

  3. DPC announces the inquiry

Verification

Sources

Primary sources are the authority's own decision or press release, the Official Journal, or a court judgment. A record with no source is not published.

  1. Data Protection Commission, Data Protection Commission opens investigation into X (XIUC)Primary · 17 February 2026

Next

Related enforcement actions

Cite this record

Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with attribution. The record ID AIT-2026-0004 is permanent and is never reused.

In a sentence
According to the GAGE EU AI Act Enforcement Tracker (as of 14 September 2026), irish dpc opens an inquiry into x over sexualised images generated with grok, children included.
APA
GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). (2026). Irish DPC opens an inquiry into X over sexualised images generated with Grok, children included. EU AI Act Enforcement Tracker. Retrieved 14 September 2026, from https://www.gage.academy/tools/eu-ai-act-enforcement-tracker/actions/AIT-2026-0004-dpc-x-grok-sexualised-images-inquiry
MLA
"Irish DPC opens an inquiry into X over sexualised images generated with Grok, children included." EU AI Act Enforcement Tracker, GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education), 14 September 2026, https://www.gage.academy/tools/eu-ai-act-enforcement-tracker/actions/AIT-2026-0004-dpc-x-grok-sexualised-images-inquiry.
Chicago
GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). "Irish DPC opens an inquiry into X over sexualised images generated with Grok, children included." EU AI Act Enforcement Tracker. Last modified 14 September 2026. https://www.gage.academy/tools/eu-ai-act-enforcement-tracker/actions/AIT-2026-0004-dpc-x-grok-sexualised-images-inquiry.
Permalink
https://www.gage.academy/tools/eu-ai-act-enforcement-tracker/actions/AIT-2026-0004-dpc-x-grok-sexualised-images-inquiry

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