Malaysia and Indonesia, the first countries to block the chatbot "Grok"
Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block "Grok," the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's xAI, citing its misuse to generate manipulated, sexually explicit and non-consensual images, regulators said.
The moves underscore growing global concern over the abuse of generative artificial intelligence tools, after "Grok," accessed through Musk's X social media platform, was criticized for producing manipulated sexual content, including images involving women and children.
Indonesia's Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs, Meutya Hafid, said on Saturday that non-consensual sexual deepfakes represent serious violations of human rights, dignity and digital security. She said the restriction aims to protect women, children and the general public from fake pornographic content generated by artificial intelligence.
"The director general of the digital space watchdog, Alexander Sabar, said that initial findings showed that 'Grok' does not have effective protections to prevent users from creating and distributing pornographic materials using real photos of Indonesian residents. Such practices risk violating privacy and image rights and can lead to psychological, social and reputational harm," Hafid said.
In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said it had temporarily blocked "Grok" after the chatbot was repeatedly misused to generate obscene and manipulated images without consent, including content involving women and minors.
“The regulator said that notices issued this month to X Corp. and xAI seeking stronger protections resulted primarily in responses that relied on user reporting mechanisms. Access will remain restricted until effective protections are in place,” the commission said, describing the measure as preventive and proportionate while legal and regulatory processes continue.
Launched in 2023, “Grok” is available through X and allows users to ask questions and generate content. An image generation feature added last year enabled the creation of sexually explicit images.
