Malaysia and Indonesia Block Grok AI Chatbot 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 potential misuse in creating pornographic and non-consensual images, particularly involving women and children.

The decision follows a surge of AI-generated imagery on X, often depicting real women and minors in sexualized and sometimes violent contexts, prompted by user requests to Grok, according to TechCrunch. Grok allows users to generate images, and recent use has included editing images of real people to show them in revealing outfits.

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 BBC has contacted the Grok platform for comment. Elon Musk had previously stated that critics of his platform are looking for "any excuse for censors."

X and xAI are part of the same company.