One In Four European Firms Ban Grok AI Chatbot Over Security Concerns

According to a new report by cybersecurity firm Netskope, 25% of European organizations have banned Grok, the generative AI chatbot created by Elon Musk. The data indicates a significant level of distrust toward Grok compared to other AI tools currently in use across Europe.

By comparison, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the most widely adopted AI application, is blocked by only 9.8% of European firms, while Google’s Gemini is restricted by 9.2%. The discrepancy reflects growing scrutiny over how different AI platforms handle security, privacy, and content moderation.

Grok has recently come under fire for spreading misinformation, including false narratives about a “white genocide” in South Africa and questionable claims related to the Holocaust. These incidents have prompted many organizations to opt for alternatives perceived as more secure and reliable.

Neil Thacker, Global Privacy and Data Protection Officer at Netskope, explained that the bans reflect increasing corporate awareness around data privacy, model transparency, and data usage policies. Businesses are beginning to distinguish between AI apps based on how responsibly they handle user inputs and data training practices.

The report also shows that 91% of European organizations now utilize cloud-based generative AI chatbots, indicating widespread adoption of AI technology. However, usage is selective: some tools face resistance due to licensing, transparency, or privacy concerns.

Stable Diffusion, the image-generation AI developed by UK-based Stability AI, holds the title of the most blocked AI app in Europe, restricted by 41% of organizations. It is frequently flagged due to privacy risks or ambiguous licensing practices.

Gianpietro Cutolo, a cloud threat researcher at Netskope, noted that organizations are becoming more sophisticated in assessing the security risks of specific AI platforms. This growing caution is particularly visible in the case of Grok, which, despite being branded by Musk as a “truth-seeking AI,” is losing credibility in the enterprise space.

The backlash against Grok comes amid broader reputational challenges for Musk, including a reported 52% drop in Tesla’s sales in the EU last month. Some analysts suggest that Musk’s political associations and public persona may be negatively impacting trust in his AI products as well.

Filed in Robots. Read more about AI (Artificial Intelligence), Elon Musk and Europe.