8 hours that landed X on MeitY's radar: How Grok's AI misuse sparked regulatory action

Since Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter in October 2022, X has maintained a lean India presence and currently lacks a designated India head

• India warns X about misuse of Grok AI tool for image manipulation
• Grok's sexualized images spark regulatory scrutiny and complaints
• X given 72 hours to respond with action taken report on measures and compliance

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In the closing days of 2025, tensions between the Indian government and X escalated over issues of artificial intelligence (AI), online safety, and the boundaries of safe harbour protection, culminating in a formal notice to the Elon Musk-owned platform regarding misuse of its AI tool, Grok, Mint has reported.

On the last working day of the year, X's India leadership team was summoned to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) at Electronics Niketan near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Senior officials expressed concerns over Grok's image-editing capabilities, which allowed users to manipulate images posted on the platform, raising alarms about digital shaming of political figures, a person directly aware of the development told Mint.

During the hour-long discussion, X executives demonstrated how the feature functioned. They explained that, for instance, if users prompted Grok to remove "the most racist person" from a group photo featuring Elon Musk and other tech leaders, the AI might remove Musk. The explanation, however, did little to reassure regulators. Officials directed X to comply with Indian laws, prompting the company's India team to escalate the matter to its global compliance division, an official familiar with the conversations said.

Two senior X executives attended the meeting. Since Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter in October 2022, X has maintained a lean India presence and currently lacks a designated India head following the departure of former policy chief Samiran Gupta in September 2023. Emails sent to X and MeitY went unanswered until press time, Mint reported.

Over the next 48 hours, the issue intensified beyond political satire or simple image editing into widespread online abuse. Grok's tools were reportedly used to generate sexualized images of women without consent, triggering a surge in complaints and regulatory scrutiny. By Friday evening, MeitY issued a formal notice to X, with Mint reviewing a copy of the notice sent around 7 pm.

The December 31 meeting had concluded without a firm resolution, indicating that discussions between X and the government were ongoing. X defended Grok by stating that its outputs were based on "credible sources and information that have not been publicly debunked, not just in India but globally." Still, since January 1, 2026, misuse of Grok to create sexualized images has proliferated on the platform. A person familiar with the matter emphasized to Mint that most such content "was being generated voluntarily by users on the platform, and was not a result of Grok creating them on its own."

Grok's primary competitors, Google's Nano Banana and OpenAI's ChatGPT Images, do not permit users to morph personal photographs into objectionable imagery, a distinction independently verified by Mint. This difference led MeitY to issue a subsequent notice giving X 72 hours, until Monday evening, to respond.

A senior government official involved in the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that X and xAI, Grok's holding company and X subsidiary, had not yet replied. The companies may either submit their response by Monday evening or request an extension. The official noted that "the government meets each social media platform individually every week, as per clauses included in rules such as section 69 of the IT Act, 2000."

MeitY's notice requires X to submit an "action taken report" detailing "specific technical and organizational measures adopted or proposed in relation to the Grok application, the role and oversight exercised by the Chief Compliance Officer, actions taken against offending content, users and accounts; and mechanisms put in place to ensure compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement under section 33 of BNSS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)," Mint reported.

Review of X's three most recent monthly action reports for September, October, and November suggests that the platform was, at least to some extent, aware of rising content manipulation linked to Grok. "We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material, by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary. Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," X stated on its Safety handle on Sunday, Mint noted.

Despite this, government and platform positions are unlikely to fully align. The official reiterated that "for any kind of sexual content online, you must remove them proactively, and if you don't, safe harbour protection is of course on the line."

Legal experts told Mint that the episode highlights unresolved ethical and regulatory questions around AI-generated content. NS Nappinai, senior counsel at the Supreme Court and founder of Cyber Saathi, said users have the right to seek prosecution for manipulated images that result in sexualized content, as Indian law does not permit such material online. "Merely because a platform may otherwise be an intermediary does not give it exemption for all content or actions on its platforms," she added.