French expert calls for strengthened protections in face of illegal AI-generated content

French authorities should hold xAI accountable for any illegal content generation and strengthen protections for citizens in the age of AI, an expert on digital media said Friday.

Launched by Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk in 2023, xAI is the developer of the chatbot Grok, which has recently been embroiled in scandal over allegations that can produce pornographic videos from photographs of real people.

In an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Paris, Mathilde Saliou, an author and journalist specialized in digital media, emphasized the urgent need for French authorities to take action to reinforce protection online.

"This could be considered a serious and important issue, which is what more digital companies, [like xAI,] are starting to do. And as such, they should set up teams dedicated to protecting internet users, recruiting staff to participate in moderating online content and preventing the dissemination of all these dramatic images," she said.

Paris prosecutors have opened an investigation into xAI over allegations that Grok has been generating illegal pornographic content, and announced on January 2 that they would launch the probe.

Saliou said France must hold the enterprise accountable, continue the investigation, and specifically require Musk to take responsibility.

Grok is currently integrated directly into X. According to French media reports, this latest probe acts as an extension of an ongoing investigation into X that began in July 2025, which focused on allegations that the platform's algorithms were being manipulated to facilitate foreign interference.

"We can consider this (Grok) a market entity from a foreign country, specifically from the U.S. It is currently disseminating, particularly in the French-speaking digital public sphere, and specifically France, which is potentially, completely illegal under our laws. In this case, promoting hatred based on gender, promoting hatred based on social and ethnic origins, and even denying the reality of the Holocaust, all these elements that we saw on X, which are reproduced by Grok, are illegal under French law," said Saliou.

In the face of the widespread controversy over the content generated by Grok, some countries have already taken action. The United Kingdom said it will enforce a new law making it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images. Malaysia has temporarily blocked access to Grok.

French expert calls for strengthened protections in face of illegal AI-generated content

Pakistani warplanes struck several locations across Afghanistan on Thursday night and Friday, killing at least six people, including a woman and a child, and wounding more than a dozen others, local officials said.

The strikes hit a fuel depot near the country's Kandahar Airport, areas in the capital Kabul, and the eastern Nangarhar Province.

A Pakistani security source said the strikes targeted hideouts belonging to the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

In Kabul's 21st police district, one of the areas hit, a market was left in ruins. Several cars were destroyed, and windows of buildings in the market and nearby areas were shattered. A crater caused by the Pakistani airstrikes was also visible.

"This is my car. I had parked it here, and it was the only way I could bring food to my family's table. It was my sole source of income and my only means of employment. Now my car is in this condition, and I have no other way to provide for my family," said Mohamad Ghulam, a taxi driver.

The airstrikes destroyed a house, killing four members of a single family. More than a dozen other households in the area reported their homes either fully or partially destroyed.

One of the victims was 22-year-old Hedayatullah, who had just been married. He was killed alongside his pregnant wife, as well as his brother and sister.

"Hedayatullah got married nine months ago. His brother was 18 years old. He himself was 22 years old, he also had a 12-year-old sister, and his wife was about 19 years old and was pregnant," said Ghulam Sakhi, a relative of the victims.

"This neighbor of ours was a family of five. Their mother was not present at the moment of the bombardment, but the rest of them lost their lives. It was Hedayatuallah's family. From my own family, two of my daughters, my sister-in-law, my brother, and two nieces got injured," said Mohamad Homayoun, a survivor.

In the past weeks, scores of people from both sides have been killed or injured in the conflict between Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, according to officials from the two countries.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has called for an immediate halt to cross-border clashes, warning that the escalating violence is driving a surge in civilian casualties and deepening a humanitarian crisis.

At least 6 killed, more than a dozen wounded in Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan: officials