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India Orders Elon Musk’s X to Make Immediate Changes to AI Chatbot Grok
India’s IT ministry has issued an order directing Elon Musk’s X to make immediate technical and procedural changes to its AI chatbot Grok, following concerns over the generation of “obscene” content. The order comes after users and lawmakers flagged the creation of AI-altered images of women, including those that made them appear to be wearing bikinis, as well as instances of the chatbot generating sexualized images involving minors.
The Indian government has given X 72 hours to submit an action-taken report detailing the steps it has taken to prevent the hosting or dissemination of content deemed “obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, pedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under law.” The order warns that failure to comply could jeopardize X’s “safe harbor” protections, which provide legal immunity from liability for user-generated content under Indian law.
Background and Concerns
The concerns over Grok’s content were raised by users who shared examples of the AI chatbot being prompted to alter images of individuals, primarily women, to make them appear to be wearing bikinis. Indian parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi filed a formal complaint, and recent reports flagged instances of the chatbot generating sexualized images involving minors. X acknowledged that the issue was caused by lapses in safeguards and took down the images.
However, images generated using Grok that made women appear to be wearing bikinis through AI alteration remained accessible on X at the time of publication. The Indian IT ministry’s order is a response to these concerns and aims to ensure that X takes necessary steps to prevent the generation and dissemination of such content.
Broader Implications
The order comes days after the Indian IT ministry issued a broader advisory to social media platforms, reminding them that compliance with local laws governing obscene and sexually explicit content is a prerequisite for retaining legal immunity from liability for user-generated material. The advisory urged companies to strengthen internal safeguards and warned that failure to do so could invite legal action under India’s IT and criminal laws.
India’s move is significant, as it is one of the world’s biggest digital markets and has emerged as a critical test case for how far governments are willing to go in holding platforms responsible for AI-generated content. Any tightening of enforcement in the country could have ripple effects for global technology companies operating across multiple jurisdictions.
Response and Next Steps
X and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Indian government’s order. The company is currently challenging aspects of India’s content regulation rules in court, arguing that federal government takedown powers risk overreach. However, the platform has complied with a majority of blocking directives.
As the situation develops, it remains to be seen how X will respond to the Indian government’s order and what steps the company will take to address concerns over Grok’s content. For more information, read the full article Here
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