After Britain and Canada, Japan launches probe into Elon Musk's Grok AI platform; sends warning to other social media companies

Japan has become the latest country to launch a formal investigation into X’s Grok after the AI chatbot generated non-consensual sexualised photos. Economic security minister Kimi Onoda announced on Friday (January 16) that the cabinet office has officially demanded that Elon Musk’s social media platform strengthen its safeguards. xAI, the company behind Grok, is already facing similar probes in the UK, Canada and the European Union.According to news agency Reuters, Onoda said at a press conference that Japanese officials have submitted written questions to X, focusing on the platform's ability to prevent deepfakes that violate privacy and intellectual property rights. She suggested that even though xAI has disabled the ability for users to create sexualised photos of real people, the current measures may not go far enough. “All possibilities, including legal steps, are on the table if there is no improvement,” said Onoda, who also issued a stern warning to the broader tech industry, adding, “If similar problems occur on other platforms, we will also act.”Countries like Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia have banned the platform, while the EU and individual member states like France are investigating whether the Grok has violate people’s right. The comments from Tokyo, however, carry significant weight because Japan remains X’s largest overseas market. Soon after scrutiny, X announced that it has moved the ability to generate photos behind a paywall but Onoda said Japan may seek further measures from xAI.“It’s a problem that people can still create such images,” Onoda said, maintaining a nuanced stance on the technology itself. “If a knife is lying there, do you use it to cook or to hurt someone?” she asked, suggesting that the government’s focus is on the misuse of the tool rather than the AI itself.