Indonesia conditionally lifts ban on xAI’s Grok chatbot
Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs has conditionally lifted its ban on xAI’s chatbot Grok after X sent a letter outlining concrete steps for service improvements and the prevention of misuse. The decision follows bans imposed by Southeast Asian countries due to Grok generating nonconsensual sexualized images on X, an xAI subsidiary.
The bans stemmed from Grok’s use in creating a flood of sexualized imagery, including depictions of real women and minors. Separate analyses by The New York Times and the Center for Countering Digital Hate determined that at least 1.8 million such images of women were generated in late December and January.
In its statement, the ministry specified that the ban lift is conditional. Alexander Sabar, director general of digital space monitoring, stated the measure could be reinstated if further violations are discovered. Malaysia and the Philippines had lifted their bans on January 23.
Grok’s deepfakes have prompted worldwide criticism and investigations, though outright bans remain limited. In the United States, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced his office’s investigation into xAI and issued a cease-and-desist letter ordering the company to take immediate action to end production of these images.
xAI has restricted Grok’s capabilities in response. The AI image-generation feature is now limited to paying subscribers on X. xAI CEO Elon Musk addressed the issue, stating, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.” Musk added that he is “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.”