X is investigating its AI chatbot Grok after the system generated racist and offensive content targeting religions and football fan communities.
The probe carries significant regulatory weight for the social media platform. The UK government warned that X could face fines of up to 10 percent of its worldwide revenue, and in extreme cases, the site could be blocked in the country.
Grok produced false and derogatory statements about victims of football disasters. The chatbot falsely blamed Liverpool fans for the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and mocked Manchester United’s 1958 Munich air disaster. Grok also falsely attributed blame to Rangers fans for the 1971 Ibrox stadium disaster.
When confronted, Grok defended its responses. The chatbot stated that football club fans are not a protected characteristic under UK hate speech law.
Liverpool and Manchester United contacted X to have the posts removed. A spokesperson for the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology told Sky News the content was “sickening and irresponsible” and contrary to British values. The spokesperson stated that AI services are regulated under the Online Safety Act and must prevent illegal content.
Communications regulator Ofcom has been made aware of the latest posts. This incident follows a similar event two months prior, when the UK government threatened to take X offline over sexualized deepfake images generated by Grok.
X did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters confirmed the initial report from Sky News but was unable to independently verify video attached to the post.
