New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued a formal notice to X Corp (formerly Twitter) India Operations, accusing the platform of failing to prevent the misuse of its AI chatbot “Grok” to create and circulate obscene, sexually explicit and degrading content targeting women.
In the notice, circulated to multiple ministries and regulatory bodies, the ministry said the company must submit an action-taken report within 72 hours, detailing the steps taken to remove such content and prevent further abuse.
The ministry said it had received disturbing reports that users were prompting Grok to digitally alter photographs of women, producing synthetic sexual images and videos. Such content, it warned, amounts to harassment and an assault on dignity, and risks normalising abuse online.
“Such conduct reflects a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and enforcement mechanisms, and amounts to gross misuse of artificial intelligence technologies in violation of applicable laws,” the ministry said, instructing the social media platform to overhaul Grok’s technical and governance safeguards, suspend or terminate users violating platform rules, and ensure the immediate removal of unlawful material while preserving digital evidence.
The ministry also warned that failure to comply may result in the loss of safe-harbour immunity and expose the company to prosecution under Indian criminal and cyber laws.
The development follows a letter by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who sought urgent intervention, alleging that women’s photos were being digitally altered and sexualised using Grok. Her letter called the trend deeply disturbing and urged the government to ensure AI safeguards to protect women online.
Following the Meity notice to X, Chartuvedi thanked the ministry in a post on X for taking prompt action on her request.
The controversy has also drawn global attention, with European officials raising similar concerns. X owner Elon Musk, however, appeared to mock the criticism in social-media posts reacting to AI-edited images.
