Malaysia, Indonesia become first countries to ban Musk’s Grok over AI sex images
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Malaysia and Indonesia became the first countries to ban Grok, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, as concerns grew among world authorities that it was being misused to produce sexually graphic and inappropriate images.
The measures reflect growing scrutiny of artificial intelligence tools that can produce real-time images, audio and text, and concerns that existing safeguards are failing to prevent their abuse.
The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk X’s social media platform, has been criticized for producing inappropriate images, including depictions of women in bikinis or posing for graphic sex, as well as images involving children.
Last week, Grok limited production of images and editing to paying users following a global backlash over the depth of human sexuality, but critics said it did not fully address the problem.
An emailed request to The Associated Press for comment on xAI resulted in an automated response from a media support email address that read, “Lies of Legacy Media.” This was the same message that was received in a separate email when asked to comment on the global recession.
Regulators in the two Southeast Asian countries say existing controls do not prevent the creation and distribution of illegal pornography, particularly involving women and children. The Indonesian government temporarily blocked entry to Grok on Saturday, followed by Malaysia on Sunday.
“The government sees serious non-consensual sexual acts as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and safety of citizens in the digital environment,” said Indonesia’s Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid in a statement on Saturday.
The ministry said the move is aimed at protecting women, children and the general public from fake pornographic images generated using AI.
Initial findings showed that Grok does not have effective safeguards to stop users from creating and distributing pornographic content based on real images of Indonesian citizens, Alexander Sabar, director-general of the digital site, said in a separate statement.
He said such practices are at risk of violating privacy and image rights when images are used in a volatile manner or shared without permission, causing psychological, social and reputational harm.
In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ordered a temporary ban on Grok on Sunday, after what it said was “repeated misuse” of the tool to produce misleading, sexually explicit and objectionable images, including content involving women and children.
The regulator said the notices issued this month to X Corp. and xAI seeking stronger protections drew responses that depended heavily on user reporting methods.
“This restriction is put in place as a precaution and measure while legal and regulatory processes are ongoing,” it said, adding that access will remain blocked until effective safeguards are put in place.
An inquiry has been launched in the UK
Launched in 2023, Grok is free to use on X. Users can ask questions on the social media site and tag posts they’ve created directly or respond to posts from other users. Last summer, the company added an image generator feature, Grok Imagine, which includes a so-called spicy mode that can generate adult content.
The Southeast Asian restrictions come amid growing scrutiny of Grok elsewhere, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, India and France.
A Toronto mother says her 12-year-old son asked Tesla’s Grok which soccer player is better: Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. After some back and forth, she says the chatbot asked her son, ‘Why don’t you send me nudes?’
On Monday, the UK’s media regulator said it had launched an official investigation into whether Grok “is complying with its duties to protect UK citizens from illegal content.”
The regulator, Ofcom, has said that Grok-produced images of children being sexually abused or people undressing may amount to pornography or child sexual abuse.
“The content created and shared using Grok in recent days has been very disturbing,” said Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.
Canada is not considering an X ban, AI Minister Evan Solomon said in a post on stage last week. His office added that discussions about the serious dispute are ongoing.
