Southeast Asian Countries Lifted the Ban on Grok Conditionally

Grok Ban and Southeast Asian Countries

HANDE BERKTAN

The chatbot Grok, developed by the artificial intelligence company xAI founded by Elon Musk, has been a topic of controversy worldwide due to deep fake images. Several countries in Southeast Asia have banned this bot because it resulted in the publication of images of women and small children without their consent.

Conditional Lifting Statement

The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs announced that it has taken concrete steps to regulate the X platform and prevent misuse, thereby lifting the ban. However, digital monitoring director Alexander Sabar emphasized that the ban has been lifted conditionally and any violations could result in reinstating the ban.

Data on Grok Usage

According to reports by the New York Times and the Center for Digital Hate, Grok was used to generate at least 1.8 million images of women between December 2022 and January 2023. This situation led to criticisms and investigations from many governments.

Developments in the USA

Despite bans on Grok in many countries, only a few states in the United States have initiated legal actions. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he is investigating xAI and has urged for an immediate halt to such images.