Indonesia blocks Grok over AI-generated sexualised images

Indonesia has become the first country to completely suspend access to Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, amid growing global concerns over the misuse of AI to create sexualised images without consent, CBS News reported.

The decision comes after reports that Grok's image-generation feature allowed users to edit photos of women and children into sexually suggestive images using simple text prompts.

CBS News verified that the tool complied with requests to alter images of women to show them in bikinis or minimal clothing, including images of prominent public figures such as US First Lady Melania Trump.

Announcing the move, Indonesia's Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said the suspension was aimed at protecting vulnerable groups.

'In order to protect women, children, and the public from the risks of fake pornographic content generated using the artificial intelligence technology, the government... has temporarily blocked access to the Grok application,' Hafid said.

'The government views non-consensual deepfake practices as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space.'

While Grok has faced restrictions in other countries, Indonesia is the first to deny access entirely.

Elsewhere, the platform has limited some of its features to paying subscribers following public backlash, a move that has drawn criticism from European officials and digital rights campaigners, who say it does not adequately address the problem, CBS News reported.

In response to media queries, Musk-owned startup xAI issued a brief statement to CBS News, saying, 'Legacy Media Lies,' without providing further clarification.

The response appeared to be an automated reply sent to multiple outlets.  -- ANI