Indonesia has followed Malaysia and the Philippines in lifting the ban on xAI chatbot Grok.

Southeast Asian countries banned Grok after it was used to create a flood of nonconsensual, sexualized imagery on X (now a subsidiary of xAI), including images of real women and minors. In late December and January, Grok was used to create at least 1.8 million sexualized images of womenaccording to separate analyzes by The New York Times and the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

on a statementIndonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs said it lifted the ban after X sent a letter “outlining concrete steps for improving the service and preventing misuse” (translation via The New York Times).

Alexander Sabar, the director general of the ministry’s digital space monitoring, said the ban was only lifted “conditionally” and could be reinstated if “additional violations are discovered.”

Malaysia and the Philippines lifted their ban on January 23.

Grok’s deepfakes have sparked criticism and investigations — but few outright bans — from governments around the world. In the United States, the Attorney General of California Rob Bonta said that his office investigated xAI and sent a cease-and-desist letter ordered the company to act immediately to end the production of these images.

xAI appears to be taking some steps to limit Grok’s capabilities, including the AI ​​image creation feature is limited to paying X subscribers. CEO Elon Musk insisted“Anyone who uses Grok to create illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content” and said he “was not aware of any nude minor portraits made by Grok.“

Documents released by the Justice Department on Friday about notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein include at least 16 emails between Musk and Epstein in 2012 and 2013, with Musk asking to visit Epstein’s Caribbean island and thinking about the “wildest party on your island.” Epstein pleaded guilty to taking an underage girl for prostitution in 2008.

The xAI, meanwhile, is reportedly in merger talks with two of Musk’s other companiesSpaceX and Tesla, first of a SpaceX IPO.