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ARTICLE · 04 MARCH 2026

X Marks The Spot: ICO And Ofcom Investigate Grok

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Four weeks. That's all it took for UK regulators to launch co-ordinated investigations into Grok's "put her in a bikini" debacle - the AI trend that publicly undressed real women and children without their consent.

United KingdomTechnology
Rosie Duckworth
Rosie Duckworth
Martha Campbell
Martha Campbell
Octavia Campbell
Octavia Campbell
Tom Crowe
Tom Crowe

Four weeks. That's all it took for UK regulators to launch co-ordinated investigations into Grok's "put her in a bikini" debacle - the AI trend that publicly undressed real women and children without their consent.

On 3 February 2026, the ICO and Ofcom simultaneously announced investigations into X and xAI concerning Grok's AI chatbot. With similar investigations under way in the EU (under the Digital Services Act) and in the US (by the California Department of Justice) and Westminster now moving to close loopholes in the online harms regime, one thing is clear: the regulatory landscape for generative AI is changing dramatically and at an unprecedented pace.

The ICO's investigation

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