Indonesia lifts ban on Elon Musk’s AI bot Grok, but conditions apply

Indonesia has lifted the ban on Elon Musk’s Grok, allowing the AI chatbot to resume services in the country. The AI bot was disabled last month by the Indonesian government over creating explicit images on X (formerly Twitter) without users’ consent. According to a report by news agency Reuters, the microblogging platform has committed to improving compliance with the country's laws, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs said in an official statement. The ministry said that the government was processing the resumption of access on "a conditional basis and under strict supervision".The report quotes senior ministry official Alexander Sabar who said "The normalisation of access to Grok services is being carried out conditionally after X Corp submitted a written commitment containing concrete steps for service improvement and prevention of abuse. This commitment is the basis for evaluation, not the end of the supervision process". Sabar further added that X had implemented a number of "layered" measures to address the misuse of Grok services in the country. The Indonesian government will continue to verify this, he added. Earlier this month, X’s Grok came under fire after it created sexualised images of users, especially women and children online without consent. Indonesia then suspended Grok from operating in the country, citing the risk of AI-generated pornographic content. The Southeast Asian nation became the first country to deny access to the AI tool.After the backlash, Elon Musk shared an online post stating: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content”. X also responded to the incident writing in an X post: “We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary."