India has instructed Elon Musk's X platform to implement urgent technical and procedural adjustments to its AI chatbot Grok, following reports from users and lawmakers about the generation of "obscene" content. This includes AI-modified images of women produced by the tool.

On Friday, the country's IT ministry issued a directive requiring X to take corrective measures regarding Grok. These measures involve restricting the creation of content that includes "nudity, sexualization, sexually explicit, or otherwise unlawful" material. The ministry also gave the social media company 72 hours to provide a detailed report outlining the actions taken to prevent the hosting or spread of content considered "obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, pedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under law."

This decision comes after users shared examples of Grok being prompted to alter images of individuals—primarily women—to make them appear to be wearing bikinis. These instances led to a formal complaint from Indian parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi.

Additionally, recent reports highlighted cases where the AI chatbot generated sexualized images involving minors. X acknowledged earlier on Friday that this issue resulted from lapses in its safeguards, and those images have since been removed.

The advisory called on companies to strengthen their internal protective measures and cautioned that failure to do so could lead to legal action under India's IT and criminal laws. The order explicitly stated, "It is reiterated that non-compliance with the above requirements shall be viewed seriously and may result in strict legal consequences against your platform, its responsible officers and the users on the platform who violate the law, without any further notice."

The government emphasized that non-compliance could result in action against X under both the nation's IT legislation and criminal statutes.

As one of the world's largest digital markets, India has become a crucial testing ground for how far governments are prepared to go in holding platforms accountable for AI-generated content. Any increase in enforcement within the country could have widespread implications for global technology firms operating across various jurisdictions.

This directive arrives as Musk's X continues to legally challenge certain aspects of India's content regulation rules. The platform argues that the federal government's takedown authority risks overreach, even though X has complied with most blocking orders.

Simultaneously, Grok has seen growing use among X users for real-time fact-checking and commentary on news events. This increased visibility makes its outputs more politically sensitive compared to those of standalone AI tools.

X and xAI have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the Indian government's order.