Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot built by Elon Musk’s company xAI, after authorities said it was being used to generate sexualized and nonconsensual images.
Regulators in both countries said Grok’s safeguards failed to stop the creation and spread of manipulated pornographic content, including images involving women and minors. Indonesia moved first over the weekend, followed by Malaysia, citing risks to privacy, dignity and public safety when real photos are altered without consent.
Grok and X // Shutterstock
Indonesian Communications Minister Meutya Hafid called nonconsensual sexual deepfakes a serious human rights violation, warning that AI misuse is outpacing current protections. Officials said early checks showed Grok could easily be used to fabricate explicit images of ordinary citizens.
Malaysia’s communications authority pointed to repeated misuse of the chatbot and said it had already issued notices to X Corp. and xAI demanding tougher controls. Access will remain blocked, it said, until effective safeguards are put in place to prevent further abuse.
The Southeast Asian crackdown adds to growing pressure elsewhere. Britain has opened an investigation into Grok and is moving to outlaw so-called “nudification apps,” while regulators in Europe and India are also watching closely, turning Musk’s chatbot into a global test case for how far governments will go to police AI-generated content.