MC EXCLUSIVE Grok misuse: Centre sends second notice to Elon Musk's X seeking details on AI safeguards

Grok is a free AI assistant - with some paid-for premium features - which responds to X users' prompts when they tag it in a post

• Centre sends follow-up notice to X Corp over Grok AI misuse response
• Officials seek details on technical measures to prevent obscene content creation
• X Corp assured compliance but did not specify safeguards for Grok AI tool

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The Centre has sent a follow-up notice to X Corp after finding the company’s response to concerns around its AI tool Grok inadequate, according to government sources.

While the Elon Musk-owned platform has said it is willing to take action against users who generate objectionable content, including permanently disabling accounts, officials said the reply does not spell out what technical measures are being put in place to prevent such content from being created in the first place.

"In their response, X Corp said that they are committed to following Indian laws. However, their response doesn't detail out the technical measures being taken to prevent this sort of misuse.  We are not satisfied with the response and a follow up notice has been sent," a government official said.

In its response to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), X is understood to have acknowledged the seriousness of the issue and assured compliance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and related rules.

The company also reportedly reiterated that it would act against accounts prompting Grok to generate non-consensual obscene images or videos, and said it had already blocked content flagged by the government.

However, officials indicated that the assurances stop short of addressing the core concern.

“There is very little clarity on any concrete changes to Grok’s responses or safeguards," the offical said adding that the government has now asked X to detail the specific technical and procedural measures it has adopted to curb misuse of Grok.

On January 2, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to X Corp’s India compliance head, citing concerns over the misuse of its AI tool Grok to generate and circulate obscene and sexually explicit content.

The letter, points to reports of women being targeted through manipulated prompts, fake accounts and synthetic images on the platform.