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Malaysia restores access to Musk's Grok after deepfake safeguards added
Malaysia has lifted its suspension on Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot after X confirmed the implementation of additional security measures following concerns over AI-generated sexualised deepfakes.
Malaysia restores access to Musk's Grok after deepfake safeguards added
FILE PHOTO: xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration. / Reuters

Malaysia said on Friday it had restored access to Elon Musk's Grok chatbot on Friday after the AI tool was blocked nearly two weeks ago over concerns about AI-generated sexualised deepfakes.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) suspended the service on X and xAI on January 11 and appointed solicitors to commence "legal proceedings", without specifying what that would entail.

But it said in a statement on Friday: "The temporary access restriction on the use of the Grok application on the X platform has been lifted effective today."

This followed "confirmation of the implementation of additional preventive and security measures by the platform", the state media watchdog said.

RelatedTRT World - Grok won't follow prompts to undress images in places where it's illegal: X

It did not specifically state what measures had been taken.

Malaysian officials and X representatives met on Wednesday for clarification and commitments on X's preventive measures and its compliance with Malaysian law, the MCMC said.

It said X confirmed the required security measures had been implemented, adding that its compliance was being monitored by authorities.

Malaysia last week threatened legal action against X and xAI if the platforms failed to take action.

Grok generated an estimated three million sexualised images of women and children in a matter of days, researchers said on Thursday, revealing the scale of the explicit content that sparked a global outcry.

Last week, following the global outrage, X announced that it would "geoblock the ability" of all Grok and X users to create images of people in "bikinis, underwear, and similar attire" in jurisdictions where such actions are illegal.

RelatedTRT World - UK watchdog opens investigation into X over Grok's sexualised imagery
SOURCE:AFP