OnePlus temporarily pulls AI tool which allegedly refused to respond when users mention Arunachal Pradesh

OnePlus

OnePlus is under scanner in India after users discovered that the company’s new AI writing tool refuses to generate text when the prompt includes the word Arunachal Pradesh. The issue came to light after X user Arjun Koroth posted a video showing the AI tool freezing the moment he tried to create a caption about the state. Instead of writing anything, it displayed the message “Try entering something else,” leaving users confused and annoyed.

The clip quickly went viral with thousands of likes and shares. Many OnePlus users then tested the feature on their own devices and saw the same behaviour. The AI Writer, part of the latest OxygenOS update on phones like the OnePlus 13 series, is meant to help with quick captions and notes. But it stopped working entirely whenever someone mentioned Arunachal Pradesh.

Soon, people realised it was not a random bug. Several users found that the tool also avoided topics China considers sensitive, such as Taiwan and the Dalai Lama. Since OnePlus is owned by Chinese company BBK Electronics and uses AI models likely trained in China, many users believe these filters may have carried over to Indian devices.

On X, people accused OnePlus of allowing “Chinese censorship” to influence responses. Some users said the company was “caught red-handed,” while others argued that this shows why India needs stronger scrutiny of foreign tech brands.

Many also pointed out that in January, China’s DeepSeek AI behaved similarly and refused to answer questions about Arunachal Pradesh.

OnePlus India has now responded to the issue. In a statement shared with us, the company said:

“We are aware of a technical issue with the AI Writer feature and have temporarily taken it offline for urgent repair and optimization. Thank you for your understanding and support.”

OnePlus has also posted a note about the issue on its community forum, explaining that the feature has been disabled while the company works on a fix.

For now, users are waiting to see how soon the tool returns and whether the political filtering concerns will be fully addressed. The incident has already sparked a wider conversation about AI models carrying hidden biases that do not match the laws or sentiments of the countries where these devices are used.