Malaysia and Indonesia Block Grok AI Over Sexually Explicit Deepfakes
Malaysia and Indonesia have blocked access to Grok, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot on Elon Musk's X platform, over concerns about its ability to generate sexually explicit deepfakes. The Southeast Asian countries are the first in the world to ban the AI tool, citing the potential for the creation of pornographic and non-consensual images involving women and children.
Grok, which allows users to generate images, has recently been used to edit images of real people to depict them in revealing outfits, according to the BBC. Officials in both countries expressed serious concerns about the proliferation of such images.
Indonesia's communications and digital minister, Meutya Hafid, stated that "the government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space," according to a statement shared with the Guardian and other publications. The ministry has also reportedly summoned X officials to discuss the matter.
The bans represent the most aggressive moves so far by government officials responding to a surge of sexualized, AI-generated imagery, often depicting real women and minors, and sometimes depicting violence, posted by Grok in response to user requests on X, according to TechCrunch.
The BBC has contacted the Grok platform for comment. Musk had previously stated that critics of his platform are looking for "any excuse for censors."
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