Canada's privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into xAI, the artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk, following reports that its Grok chatbot was used to generate sexualized deepfake content without the subjects' consent.
Simultaneously, Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne announced an expansion of an existing probe into X, the platform that operates the Grok chatbot. This move makes Canada the latest jurisdiction to join a global effort to counter the proliferation of deepfake content on the social media platform owned by Musk.
"The increasing use of personal information to create deepfakes, including intimate images, without an individual’s consent is a serious threat to the core privacy rights of individuals," Dufresne stated in a declaration released on Thursday.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada confirmed that the X platform has acknowledged receipt of the investigation notice and intends to address the matter.
On Wednesday, X announced it would prohibit all users, including paying subscribers, from editing "real-person images wearing revealing attire such as bikinis," while emphasizing its "zero-tolerance policy towards any form of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and involuntary sexual content."
Previously, users on the X platform had used prompts to make Grok overlay images of adults and children with revealing attire like bikinis and lingerie, a practice that led to the app being banned in Malaysia and Indonesia. Authorities in the U.S. state of California and the United Kingdom have also initiated investigations into the matter.
Subsequently, the company has implemented geo-blocking for all users in jurisdictions where such actions are illegal, preventing them from using Grok accounts and the Grok chatbot to generate images of real people wearing bikinis, lingerie, or similar attire.
Canada currently lacks specific criminal legislation targeting the distribution of non-consensual sexualized deepfakes. In December of last year, Canadian Justice Minister Arif Virani tabled a bill proposing to criminalize the distribution of such deepfake content or threats to distribute it. If passed, the bill would also mandate that social media companies report AI-manipulated child sexual abuse images and videos found on their platforms to law enforcement.
"Deepfake sexual abuse is an act of violence, fundamentally," Canadian Minister for AI Evan Solomon stated on social media last week. "We must protect Canadians, particularly women and youth, from exploitation. Platforms and AI developers have a responsibility to prevent such harms from occurring."
He also noted that Canada is not currently considering a ban on the X platform.
Nearly a year ago, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada initiated its first investigation into X, triggered by complaints that the platform was collecting Canadians' personal information without consent to train its AI models.
The Commissioner's office stated that due to growing public concern and "numerous media reports" about the platform being used to generate and distribute explicit deepfakes, it decided to broaden the scope of its investigation.
This series of investigations will focus on examining whether X and xAI obtained the legally required consent for the collection, use, and sharing of personal information in the process of generating explicit deepfake content via Grok, and whether these actions comply with the law.
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