13 May 2026
45 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wel ington 6011
PO Box 805, Wel ington
Phone: 04 495 7200
Jorja
Email: [email address]
[FYI request #33982 email]
Website: dia.govt.nz
Tēnā koe Jorja,
Your Official Information Act 1982 request, reference OIA 2526-0949
I am responding to your request of 6 March 2026 to the Department of Internal Affairs (the
Department) requesting the fol owing information under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act):
1. The fol owing documents or information which contain the term “Grok” (i.e. the AI
tool used on the platform X):
a. formal briefings and aides-memoire to Ministers
b. internal correspondence sent and received by Tier 1, 2 and 3 staff
c. agendas and minutes from internal or inter-departmental governance groups,
including those with Ministers and/or senior officials in attendance
2. In addition, I would like to know the number of times the word “Grok” has appeared
within DIA’s information system.
Extension of your request
Under section 15A(1)(b) of the Act, the timeframe to respond to your request was extended
by 15 working days from 7 April 2026 to 29 April 2026. This was because the consultations
necessary to make a decision on your request were such that a proper response to the
request could not reasonably be made within the original time limit.
Decision in principle
29 April 2026, the Department provided you with a decision in principle on your request. We
advised that additional time was required to complete the necessary consultations before
releasing the information, and that we expected to provide the documents by 13 May 2026.
At that time, we also responded to Part Two of your request regarding the number of
occurrences of the term “Grok”.
Response to your request
Part One
a. Formal briefings and aides-memoire to Ministers
This part of your request seeks copies of any formal briefings or aides-memoire to Ministers
that contain the term “Grok” (the AI tool used on the platform X).
Fol owing reasonable searches, the Department does not hold any information within scope
of this part of your request. Accordingly, this part of your request is refused under section
18(e) of the Act, as the information requested does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts
to locate it, cannot be found.
b. Internal correspondence sent and received by Tier 1, 2 and 3 staff
There are 20 documents that fal within scope of this part of your request. These comprise
internal correspondence sent and received by Tier 1, 2 and 3 staff.
Four documents are withheld in full, and the remaining 16 documents are released in part,
with some information withheld under the fol owing sections of the Act:
• 9(2)(a): to protect the privacy of natural persons;
• 9(2)(ba)(i): to protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or
which any person has been or could be compel ed to provide under the authority of
any enactment, where the making available of the information would be likely to
prejudice the supply of similar information, or information from the same source,
and it is in the public interest that such information should continue to be supplied;
• 9(2)(f)(iv): to protect the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown
and officials;
• 9(2)(g)(i): to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and
frank expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members
of an organisation or officers and employees of any public service agency or
organisation in the course of their duty; and
• 9(2)(j) – negotiations sensitive.
Information fal ing outside the scope of your request has not been considered for release
and has been removed.
A substantial number of automatically generated emails were also within scope. These are
media monitoring updates summarising links to publicly available news articles and are
administrative in nature. These documents are refused under:
• 18 (d) – the information requested is or will soon be publicly available.
• 18(f) – the information requested cannot be made available without substantial
collation or research.
c . Agendas and minutes from internal or inter-departmental governance groups, including
those with Ministers and/or senior officials in attendance
Fol owing reasonable searches, the Department does not hold any agendas or minutes from
internal or inter-departmental governance groups that contain the term “Grok”.
Accordingly, this part of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act, as the
information requested does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be
found.
Part Two:
The number of times the word “Grok” has appeared in the Department’s information
systems is, 926 times (as at the time of response).
Public interest considerations
As is required by section 9(1) of the Act, consideration has been given as to whether the
withholding of information is outweighed by other public interest considerations which
would make it desirable to make this information available. In this instance, it is not
considered to be the case.
Accessing the Ombudsman You have the right to seek an investigation and review of my decision by the Office of the
Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Mark Batt
Director Branch Performance
Policy and Te Tiriti
11 Speaking Points: The Department of Internal Affairs
25 January 2026
Withheld in full
9(2)(g)(i)
(DIA) speaking points - NZ ambassador to USA meeting
with x
12 Email: Upcoming X (Twitter) meeting with NZ
28 January 2026
Partially released
9(2)(a), out of scope
Ambassador to US - request for briefing + Link
13 Email: RE: Platform regulation [UNCLASSIFIED]
30 January 2026
Partially released
9(2)(a), out of scope
14 Email: AI Issues
30 January 2026
Partially released
9(2)(a)
15 Email: tasking for posts to seek advice on ai online
30 January 2026
Withheld in full
9(2)(j), 9(2) (ba)(i),
safety regulation and advisers to government on
9(2)(a)
sovereign ai Classification Removed
16 Email: For strategy eds review approval - Comms pack
3 February 2026
Partially released
9(2)(a), out of scope
Post interview Paul James - Public Service AI Work
Programme February 2026
17 Email: Formal message: ai online safety regulation -
12 February 2026
Withheld in full
9(2)(j), 9(2) (ba)(i)
Australia Classification Removed
18 Email: COR3973 RE: Grok app for DIA
12 February 2026
Partially released
9(2)(a)
19 Email: RE: For Review - Grok ministerial
17 February 2026
Partially released
9(2)(a), out of scope
20 Ministerial correspondence: Use of Grok app
17 February 2026
Partially released
9(2)(a)
