Canadian Privacy Watchdog Finds Grok AI Tool Violated Privacy Law Over Sexual Deepfakes
Canada's Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne ruled that Elon Musk's xAI and X Corp violated Canadian federal privacy law by launching Grok's image-generation tool without adequate safeguards, enabling the creation of millions of sexualized deepfakes — at one point exceeding 6,000 per hour. The findings follow a January investigation and coincide with a separate Wired analysis showing explicit AI-generated content of celebrities and a politician still being hosted on Grok.com. Separately, a Derbyshire, UK police officer has been removed from frontline duties and placed under criminal investigation for allegedly using AI to fabricate evidential material in multiple cases.
Canada's Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne announced Thursday that X Corp and xAI violated Canada's federal private-sector privacy law by launching Grok's AI image-generation tool without implementing appropriate safeguards, allowing users to create and share sexualized deepfakes primarily targeting women and children. Researchers cited in the investigation found Grok was at one point generating over 6,000 sexualized images per hour, with millions produced in total. While xAI has since introduced some safeguards and committed to quarterly reports and independent third-party audits, the Commissioner said the companies have not yet demonstrated the effectiveness of these measures. A concurrent Wired investigation found explicit AI-generated images and videos of celebrities and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez still publicly hosted on Grok.com, with content removed only after Wired contacted the companies. The Canadian findings come as xAI's parent company SpaceX prepares for a major IPO, and amid global regulatory scrutiny from the UK, EU, Spain, the Netherlands, and the US. In a separate but related story, a Derbyshire, UK police officer has been removed from frontline duties and placed under criminal investigation — described as the first known case of its kind in the UK — for allegedly using AI systems to create evidential material in multiple cases and perverting the course of justice, with the Crown Prosecution Service engaging defence teams and courts in potentially affected cases.
What's missing
It is also unclear how many of the potentially affected criminal cases in the Derbyshire AI evidence fabrication investigation may be compromised, and no information has been disclosed about the officer's role or the types of cases involved.
How coverage differed
Wired's coverage was notably more critical of xAI, emphasizing that explicit content remains accessible on Grok.com and highlighting advocacy group condemnations, while Global News and Channel NewsAsia presented the Privacy Commissioner's findings in a more procedural, regulatory framing without independently verifying whether violations were ongoing.
What different sources said
- WiredLeft
Grok Is Still Hosting Sexualized Deepfakes of Famous Women
- Channel NewsAsiaCenter
Grok's AI image generation tool violated Canadian privacy law, watchdog says
- Al JazeeraLeft
Musk’s Grok accused of violating Canadian privacy laws on deepfakes
- Global News CanadaCenter
Grok AI broke Canada’s laws, created 6K sexual deepfakes per hour: probe
- PoliticoLeft
Grok’s sexualized deepfakes violate Canada’s privacy law, watchdog rules
- BBC Top StoriesCenter
Officer accused of using AI to 'create evidence'
- Financial TimesCenter
Police officer under criminal investigation over alleged use of AI
Police officer under criminal investigation over alleged use of AI
- CBCLeft
AI deepfake investigation by Ottawa police not trauma-informed, alleged victims say
- The TelegraphRight
Police officer suspended over alleged misuse of AI
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