Indonesia ‘conditionally’ lifts ban on puppyhood

Indonesia has followed Malaysia and the Philippines in lifting a ban on xAI’s Grok chatbot.

Southeast Asian countries banned Grok after it was used to create a flood of non-consensual sexual images on X (now a subsidiary of xAI), including images of real women and minors. In late December and January, Grok was used to create at least 1.8 million sexual images of women, according to separate analyzes by The New York Times and the Center for Combating Digital Hate.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs said in a statement that it lifted the ban after X sent a letter “outlining concrete steps to improve the service and prevent abuse” (translation via The New York Times).

Alexandre Sabar, the ministry’s director-general of digital space monitoring, said the ban was only lifted “conditionally” and could be reinstated if “further violations are discovered.”

Malaysia and the Philippines lifted their ban on January 23.

Grok’s deepfakes have drawn criticism and investigations — but only a few outright bans — from governments around the world. In the US, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said his office was investigating XAI and sent a cease-and-desist letter ordering the company to take immediate action to end production of these images.

xAI appears to have taken some steps to restrict Grok’s capabilities, including limiting its AI image creation feature to paying subscribers on

Documents released by the Justice Department on Friday about notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein include at least 16 emails between Musk and Epstein in 2012 and 2013, in which Musk asked to visit Epstein’s Caribbean island and asked about “the wildest party on your island.” Epstein pleaded guilty to trafficking an underage girl for prostitution in 2008.

Meanwhile, xAI is said to be in talks to merge with two of Musk’s other companies, SpaceX and Tesla, ahead of SpaceX’s IPO.