Elon Musk issues a formal warning to Grok users amid backlash over inappropriate images on X
Musk’s statement came a day after the Ministry of Electronics and IT instructed X to swiftly remove all obscene content, particularly material generated by Grok.
Elon Musk, owner of the microblogging site X, said on Saturday that those who use the platform’s AI service Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as those who upload illegal content.
Musk’s statement comes a day after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed X to immediately remove all obscene, vulgar, and illegal content, especially content generated by the AI app Grok, or face legal action.
Responding to a post on X about “inappropriate images,” Musk said, “Anyone who uses Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as uploading illegal content.”
The post stated, “Some people are saying that Grok is creating inappropriate images. But that’s like blaming a pen for writing something wrong. The pen doesn’t decide what to write. The person holding it does. Grok works the same way. What you get out of it largely depends on what you put into it. Think about it!”
MeitY has directed X to take action against objectionable content, users, and accounts. The ministry has directed the US social media firm to submit a detailed Action Taken Report (ATR) within 72 hours of the date of issuance of the order.
The order states that it has received information from time to time, through public discourse and representations from various parliamentary stakeholders, that certain categories of content circulating on X may not be in compliance with applicable laws relating to decency and obscenity.
The government’s directive comes after Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging immediate intervention regarding the increasing instances of misuse of the AI app Grok to create and post obscene images of women on social media.
The government order states that X’s “Grok AI” service is being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish, or share obscene or vulgar images or videos of women, with the intent to defame them.
On December 29, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed social media companies to immediately review their compliance frameworks and take action against obscene and illegal content on their platforms, failing which they could face prosecution under the country’s laws.
This directive came after the ministry noted that social media platforms were not taking strict action against obscene, vulgar, inappropriate, and illegal content.
