OnePlus Disables AI Writing Feature Amid Controversy Over Censorship of Sensitive Geopolitical Topics -News-SeeMyPhone-Search for smartphones and cell phones

Concerns Rise as OnePlus AI Writer Faces Censorship Allegations

The OnePlus AI Writer, integrated into the OnePlus AI toolkit and launched with OxygenOS 15, offers users the ability to generate and rewrite text based on brief prompts. For instance, typing a simple statement like "The Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world" results in a detailed, expanded passage. However, this feature has recently been disabled temporarily by OnePlus following reports from multiple users who experienced non-responsiveness when their prompts involved topics sensitive to the Chinese government.

The issue gained wider attention after X user Arjun Koroth shared a screen recording demonstrating that the AI Writer fails to generate text when prompted with "Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India." This is significant given the ongoing geopolitical tensions between India and China, both countries asserting territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, which officially remains an Indian state. Similarly, attempts to use terms such as Dalai Lama or Taiwan also result in the feature not responding.

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In response to these reports, Winkey from the OnePlus software team acknowledged the issue on the OnePlus Community channel and confirmed that an investigation is underway. OnePlus revealed that their AI technology uses a hybrid AI architecture incorporating multiple third-party large language models (LLMs) to manage various AI functionalities on its smartphones. For example, Google Gemini might be responsible for AI personalization features, while other LLMs handle different tasks.

While OnePlus has not specifically identified the language model behind the AI Writer, the current behavior suggests it may be powered by an LLM tailored for the Chinese market. This observation is based on the AI's sensitivity to certain geopolitical topics, reminiscent of prior controversies involving Chinese AI platform DeepSeek, which faced backlash for censoring topics critical of the Chinese government, including the Tiananmen Square incident and territorial disputes like Arunachal Pradesh.

OnePlus has since issued an additional statement indicating that the investigation may take some time. Until then, the AI Writer feature will remain disabled in the Notes app on all OnePlus devices, including the latest OnePlus 15.

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Why This Issue Matters

OnePlus 13 Display. | Image credit: PhoneArena

As AI-powered tools become increasingly integrated into everyday smartphone use, companies providing these technologies must ensure transparency and neutrality in the responses generated. While it's understandable that AI may avoid answering politically sensitive prompts relating to specific governments, unchecked censorship can itself raise serious ethical and societal issues.

For example, had the AI Writer responded inaccurately by claiming Arunachal Pradesh belongs to China rather than India, the political fallout could have been significant.

Going forward, it would be ideal for smartphone manufacturers like OnePlus to allow users to manually select their preferred LLM models for AI features. This choice would help users avoid biased or censored responses, enabling greater confidence and control over the AI-powered experiences on their devices.