Indonesia permits Elon Musk’s Grok to resume service after ban

[JAKARTA] Indonesia has permitted the artificial intelligence tool Grok to resume service after Elon Musk’s X provided assurances to the government following its ban for producing sexualised content.

In a letter to the Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs, X said it had implemented measures to address the misuse of Grok, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday (Feb 1). The government would continue to monitor the tool for further violations, including the spread of illegal content and violation of child protection principles, it said in the statement.

Grok has received condemnation globally after the AI-tool was used to generate undressed images of women and children. Indonesia banned it last month, days after Elon Musk’s firm xAI, which owns it, decided to restrict the image-generation feature for most users on the X social media platform.

Other countries in South-east Asia, including the Philippines and Malaysia, also blocked Grok. Regulators in France and the UK, are also investigating the tool for potential abuse. BLOOMBERG