Elon Musk's social media platform X is catching heat from regulators around the world after its Grok AI chatbot apparently let users create sexually explicit images of women and children. Not exactly the kind of virality you want.

International Regulators Circle

The scrutiny is coming from all directions. European regulators, India, Malaysia, and Brazil have all launched inquiries into how Grok's image-generation tools work—and why they allowed this kind of content in the first place.

The European Commission didn't mince words, calling the AI-generated content "illegal" and "appalling," particularly its capacity to produce sexualized images of minors.

India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology took swift action, ordering X to conduct a "comprehensive technical, procedural and governance-level review" of Grok by January 5, according to CNBC. Malaysia's communications watchdog said it plans to summon X representatives for questioning, while Brazilian lawmakers are pushing for Grok to be suspended entirely until investigations wrap up.

Even the U.K.'s media regulator Ofcom is getting involved, requesting detailed information about how the AI tool operates.

xAI, which acquired X last year, hasn't offered much in the way of explanation beyond automated responses.

Musk's Eyebrow-Raising Reaction

While governments scramble to investigate, Musk posted Grok-generated images of himself in a bikini with laughing emojis. Read the room, maybe?

X later released a statement saying it removes illegal content and suspends accounts that violate its rules. Musk also weighed in, posting that "anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content."

Meanwhile, xAI employee Ethan He mentioned that Grok Imagine had been updated, though he didn't specify whether the changes actually prevent the creation of harmful explicit images.

Controversy Equals Traffic, Apparently

Here's the twist: according to mobile analytics firm Apptopia, Grok's daily downloads have surged 54% since January 2. X itself saw downloads climb 25% over the last three days. Nothing like a scandal to boost user curiosity.