UPDATE - EU Commission closely monitoring Grok chatbot case after Poland's complaint

UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL REMARKS FROM SPOKEPERSONS; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Melike Pala

BRUSSELS (AA) - The European Commission on Thursday confirmed that it received a formal letter from Polish authorities regarding alleged violations by Grok, the AI chatbot integrated into Elon Musk's X platform, and said it is "taking the issue extremely seriously."

Speaking at the midday briefing in Brussels, commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the EU executive is in contact with both Polish authorities and X, and has already sent a request for information to better understand how Grok is integrated into the platform.

"Grok, is integrated into an already designated very large online platform under the DSA (Digital Services Act), being X. X has indeed the obligation already under the DSA to assess and mitigate risks stemming from all its services including Grok, on potential risks includes, risks to fundamental rights, risks on illegal content," he said.

"We're taking this extremely seriously... We will make sure that the DSA is followed, that the AI Act is followed," he added, while declining to speculate on potential next steps.

The development follows Wednesday's remarks by Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who said Warsaw may block X and report Grok to the European Commission over offensive political comments.

Separately, on Gaza, European Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said the bloc's position "has not changed" on any demographic or territorial changes in the Gaza Strip and emphasized that it is based on international law.

"EU rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial changes in the Gaza Strip and supports unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority," he said.

He also cited European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's November 2023 remarks stressing that Gaza is "an essential part of the future Palestinian state" and that "there should be no forced displacement of Palestinians."

The Israeli army has killed nearly 57,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has devastated the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of disease.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.