Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries in the world to block access to the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot, citing the generation of sexually explicit and non-consensual images, including content involving minors.
Indonesian authorities temporarily restricted access to Grok on Saturday, followed by Malaysia on Sunday, after the chatbot was widely criticized for producing explicit images of women without consent. The AI tool, developed by xAI and accessible through X, sparked global outrage as images circulated online.
Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs, Meutya Hafid, said the government considers non-consensual sexual deepfakes a serious violation of human rights, personal dignity and digital safety.
She stated that the decision to block the chatbot was made to protect citizens from the harmful misuse of artificial intelligence.
Malaysia’s Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said it moved to block Grok after repeated instances in which the tool was used to generate obscene, offensive, and manipulated images, including those involving women and children. The regulator said it had contacted X and xAI to demand stronger safeguards but found their responses inadequate, relying primarily on user-reporting mechanisms.
The commission said access to Grok would remain suspended until effective protections are implemented to prevent abuse and ensure compliance with national laws.
Grok entered the market in 2023 as part of a growing field of AI tools competing with products from Google and Microsoft. In 2025, xAI introduced an image-generation feature known as Grok Imagine, which included a mode allowing adult content, intensifying scrutiny from regulators.
Complaints about Grok’s image-generation capabilities have also emerged from the European Union, the United Kingdom, India and France. While xAI later restricted image generation to paying users, critics argue the move has failed to adequately address concerns over misuse.
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