The recent surge of AI-generated, non-consensual images—particularly of women—using Grok, the platform’s in-built AI tool, has exposed how vulnerable India’s digital ecosystem remains when global tech platforms prioritise speed and engagement over safety.
This concern was articulated clearly by singer Shreya Ghoshal during an interview last year. Referring to unauthorised AI-generated content circulating online, she asked: “How is this allowed on a platform that is so important today? Why does it not moderate these posts? Why does it lack a team or technology to prevent this?”
A Pattern, Not an Accident
Long before X allowed users to manipulate others’ images using Grok, the platform had already shown a troubling indifference to consent. AI-generated advertisements featuring Indian celebrities—without permission—ran for weeks, sometimes months, before being taken down. Victims were not limited to one industry. From film stars to top cricketers, even members of India’s most powerful business families, including Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, found their likenesses misused.
The problem was never technical incapability. It was a lack of incentive to act quickly unless public outrage reached critical mass.
Two years ago, the issue of non-consensual AI-generated content first shook India when a morphed video of actor Rashmika Mandanna went viral. At the time, the narrative framed this as a “celebrity problem.” But the real issue was structural: if famous women with legal teams struggled to get content removed, what chance did ordinary users have?
From Deepfakes to “Swimsuit Edits”
The latest controversy began in late 2025, days after X rolled out a feature allowing users to edit photos posted by others using Grok. Almost immediately, timelines were flooded with AI-generated images of women—many private individuals—altered to appear in swimsuits or revealing clothing.
None of this required sophisticated prompt engineering. The tool was embedded into the platform itself, normalising misuse at scale.
What followed was predictable: viral engagement, delayed takedowns, and vague platform responses about “looking into the issue.”
India’s Regulatory Blind Spot
India’s IT rules and intermediary guidelines were not designed for generative AI embedded into social networks. While personality rights and privacy laws exist, enforcement remains reactive and fragmented. Celebrities like Anil Kapoor have gone to court to secure explicit protection for their likeness and voice, but legal recourse is slow, expensive, and inaccessible for most Indians.
Platforms, meanwhile, operate in a grey zone—acknowledging harm only after it becomes headline news.
This regulatory lag creates an uneven power dynamic. Global platforms experiment freely, while Indian users bear the consequences.
The Real Cost of “Move Fast”
The Grok controversy is not just about AI-generated images of women. It is about what happens when product launches outpace policy, and when platforms outsource ethical responsibility to users who have no real power.
AI tools integrated into social feeds are not neutral. They amplify existing social biases, reward sensationalism, and make harassment frictionless. Without strict safeguards, consent becomes optional and accountability becomes performative.
India’s digital future cannot rely on post-facto outrage management. It needs clear AI-specific regulation, mandatory consent frameworks, rapid takedown obligations, and meaningful penalties for repeat platform failures.
Until then, Grok’s images will remain a warning—of what happens when innovation arrives faster than responsibility.
