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malaysia and Indonesia The countries have become the first to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate explicit and non-consensual images.
The moves reflect growing global concerns about generative AI tools capable of producing lifelike images, sounds and text, and that existing safeguards fail to prevent their misuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessible through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or explicit sexual positions, as well as images involving children.
Regulators in the two Southeast Asian countries said existing controls do not prevent the creation and dissemination of fake pornographic content, especially content involving women and minors. The Indonesian government temporarily blocked Grok on Saturday, followed by Malaysia on Sunday.
“The government considers non-consensual sexual deepfakes to be a serious violation of the human rights, dignity and safety of citizens in the digital space,” Meutya Hafid, Indonesia’s minister of communications and digital affairs, said in a statement on Saturday.
The measure aims to protect women, children and the wider community from fake pornographic content generated by artificial intelligence, the ministry said.
Digital Space Regulation Director General Alexander Sabal said in a separate statement that preliminary findings showed Grok lacked effective safeguards to prevent users from creating and distributing pornographic content based on real photos of Indonesian residents. He said when photos are manipulated or shared without consent, the practice can infringe on privacy and publicity rights, causing psychological, social and reputational harm.
exist Kuala LumpurThe Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission on Sunday ordered temporary restrictions on Grok, saying it had “repeatedly abused” the tool to generate obscene, explicit and non-consensually manipulated images, including content involving women and minors.
The regulator said notices sent to X Corp. and xAI this month requiring stronger safeguards prompted responses that relied heavily on user reporting mechanisms.
“This restriction is imposed as a precautionary and proportionate measure while legal and regulatory proceedings are ongoing,” it said, adding that access would remain blocked until effective safeguards were in place.
Grok launches in 2023 and is free to use on X. Users can ask questions on the social media platform and tag posts they create directly or reply to posts from other users. Last summer, the company added image generator feature Grok Imagine, which includes a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.
The restrictions in Southeast Asia come as Grok comes under increasing scrutiny elsewhere, including in the EU, UK, India and France. Grok last week restricted image generation and editing to paying users following a global backlash over incidents of human-friendly deepfakes, but critics say it doesn’t fully address the problem.