BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - The European Commission

opened on Thursday an investigation into Alibaba's ( BABA )

AliExpress on concerns about the dissemination of illegal and

pornographic materials on its platform, the third such

investigation after X social media platforma and TikTok.

The move is under powers granted to the EU executive under

the Digital Services Act (DSA) which requires companies to do

more to tackle illegal and harmful products on their platforms.

The Commission on Thursday also sent requests for

information to Microsoft's ( MSFT ), Google Search,

Meta Platforms' ( META ) Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,

ByteDance's TikTok and Elon Musk's X social media platform on

their use of generative artificial intelligence.

Commission officials said they will examine whether the

companies conduct risk assessments and have risk mitigation

measures to tackle potentially harmful generative AI content.

The Commission also sent a request for information to

Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Linkedin on whether it allows profiling in its

advertising service following a complaint from civil society

organisations.