The Central government has granted Elon Musk's X Corporation a final extension to submit a detailed report on the actions taken against the misuse of its artificial intelligence chatbot, GrokAI. The new deadline is now January 7, 5 PM, a senior official confirmed.
Government's Stern Warning to X
This extension follows a strongly-worded letter sent by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to X (formerly Twitter) on January 4. The ministry accused the platform of failing to meet its "statutory due diligence obligations" under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The government's primary concern is the alleged use of Grok AI to create and spread obscene, vulgar, and sexually explicit content, particularly images and videos targeting women in a derogatory manner.
The letter, addressed to X Corp's Chief Compliance Officer for India, explicitly warned the platform to "strictly desist" from hosting, displaying, or transmitting any prohibited content. It stated that such violations could lead to serious penal consequences under multiple laws, including the loss of legal immunity provided under Section 79 of the IT Act.
What Must X Corporation Do?
MeitY has laid out a comprehensive set of demands for X Corporation. The company is required to conduct a thorough technical, procedural, and governance-level review of the Grok AI application. The goal is to ensure the system cannot be used to generate or promote nudity and unlawful material.
Furthermore, X must:
- Update its terms of service and related policies to explicitly prohibit such violations.
- Submit a detailed Action Taken Report (ATR) covering specific technical and organizational measures implemented for Grok.
- Detail the oversight role of the Chief Compliance Officer and actions taken against offending content, users, and accounts.
- Establish mechanisms to ensure compliance with mandatory reporting requirements under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
X's Response and Musk's Stance
In response to the initial notice, X's Global Government Affairs account stated on January 4 that the platform would act against policy-violating content, suspend accounts posting unlawful material, and cooperate with local governments. Elon Musk himself had previously asserted that "anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content."
The situation places significant pressure on X Corporation to demonstrate concrete and effective moderation measures for its AI tool. Failure to provide a satisfactory report by the extended deadline could expose the company to legal liability and consequential action under Indian law.
