Federal privacy commissioner looking into sexualized deepfakes on X platform

By Canadian Press on January 15, 2026.

OTTAWA — The federal privacy commissioner will investigate the proliferation of sexualized deepfakes created by Grok and shared on X.

Philippe Dufresne has expanded an ongoing probe into X and launched a related investigation into Elon Musk’s xAI, the company behind Grok.

His office says the investigations will look at whether the companies are complying with federal private sector privacy law.

They will examine whether xAI and X obtained “valid consent” to collect, use and disclose personal information in order to create deepfakes, including explicit content.

Dufresne says the use of personal information without consent for the creation of deepfakes poses serious risks to individuals’ privacy rights.

The privacy commissioner’s office says it told the companies of the investigation Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2025.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press