Govt ‘not satisfied’ with X response on Grok AI, considering next steps

The government has raised concerns over the misuse of the platform’s AI tool, Grok. (AP File Photo)

In its response to the government’s stern notice over Grok AI generating objectionable images of women without consent, Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has told the IT Ministry that it was open to permanently disabling accounts which engaged in such activity on the platform. The government, though, is unconvinced by the company’s response, owing to a lack of any technical explanation behind the issue, and any steps to prevent Grok from generating such images in the first place, The Indian Express has learnt.

In its formal response, sent on Wednesday, X is understood to have acknowledged the severity of the issue and committed to taking action against accounts creating such inappropriate prompts on its artificial intelligence platform, The Indian Express has learnt. The company has assured the government that it will strictly comply with India’s Information Technology Act, 2000 and associated rules governing digital content.

“X has basically reiterated their stance that they will take action on users who prompt Grok AI to generate such images and videos. But there is very little assurance of any concrete changes to Grok’s responses itself. We are not satisfied by the company’s response and are considering our next course of action. We can not be lenient when the dignity of women is in question,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.

X has also indicated its willingness to take stringent measures against violators, including permanently disabling accounts that engage in generating non-consensual objectionable content. The platform has already blocked pieces of such content that were flagged by the government.

As part of its response, X has offered to provide the Indian government with a comprehensive demonstration of how Grok functions, including detailed explanations of its content moderation mechanisms and enforcement protocols. This proposal appears aimed at building transparency and trust with regulatory authorities.

Queries sent to X and the IT Ministry did not elicit a response until publication.

On January 2, the IT Ministry had taken note of Grok being abused to generate objectionable pictures and videos of women, without their consent, while increasing the risk of exposure and harm, and had sent a missive to the company saying that it was not adhering to the country’s laws, raising red flags over “serious failure” of safeguards enforcement.

The issue became a global concern, with regulators in the European Union, United Kingdom and Malaysia also scrutinising the social media company.

The notice said that due to Grok’s actions, X was not adequately adhering to provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, particularly in relation to obscene, indecent, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic, or otherwise unlawful or harmful content which are potentially violative of current laws.

Users on X were increasingly tagging Musk’s AI chatbot Grok to generate sexualised and objectionable images of women without their consent, raising fresh concerns over AI misuse and platform safeguards. In several instances, users replied to photos of women, often taken from public posts, and prompted Grok to alter their appearance by adding revealing clothing or creating suggestive visuals, which the AI-bot promptly did. The AI-generated images appear publicly in the same threads, exposing the women to harassment without their approval or knowledge.

The government had also directed the company to undertake a comprehensive technical, procedural and governance-level review of Grok AI, including its prompt-processing, output generation, and image handling and safety guardrails, “to ensure that the application does not generate, promote or facilitate content which contains nudity, sexualisation, sexually explicit or otherwise unlawful content”.