India's IT ministry ordered Elon Musk's X to implement immediate technical and procedural changes to its AI chatbot Grok after the platform generated obscene content, including AI-altered images of women. The order, issued Friday, directs X to restrict Grok from generating content involving nudity, sexualization, sexually explicit material, or other unlawful content.
The ministry gave X 72 hours to submit an action-taken report detailing the steps taken to prevent the hosting or dissemination of content deemed obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, pedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under Indian law. TechCrunch reviewed the order, which warned that failure to comply could jeopardize X's safe harbor protections, which provide legal immunity from liability for user-generated content under Indian law.
The action follows concerns raised by users who shared examples of Grok being prompted to alter images of individuals, primarily women, to make them appear to be wearing bikinis. Indian parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi filed a formal complaint after these instances came to light.
Grok, X's AI chatbot, is designed to answer questions and generate text in a conversational style. It leverages a large language model (LLM), a type of artificial intelligence algorithm trained on vast amounts of text data to understand and generate human-like text. The incident highlights the challenges in controlling the output of LLMs, particularly in preventing the generation of harmful or inappropriate content. Guardrails, such as content filters and moderation systems, are typically implemented to mitigate these risks, but they are not always foolproof.
The Indian government's directive underscores the increasing scrutiny of AI platforms and their potential for misuse. The demand for an action-taken report within 72 hours signals the government's seriousness in addressing the issue. Failure to comply could have significant consequences for X, potentially impacting its legal protections and operations in India. The incident also raises broader questions about the responsibility of tech companies in ensuring the ethical and safe use of AI technologies. X has not yet publicly commented on the order. The company's response and the actions it takes to address the concerns will be closely watched by regulators and the tech industry alike.
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