Indonesia has allowed Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, to resume operations.
This comes after the company provided assurances to address concerns around harmful and illegal content.
The decision, announced by Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, follows weeks of regulatory pressure after Grok was linked to the generation of sexualized and non-consensual images.
This includes content involving women and minors. The government had imposed a temporary ban on the tool last month, citing violations of local laws and child protection principles.
The Director General of Digital Space Supervision at the Ministry of Communication and Digital, Alexander Sabar, emphasized that this normalization is not a form of unconditional relaxation, but rather part of a measurable digital law enforcement mechanism that can be evaluated at any time.
What they are saying
According to the ministry, X submitted a formal letter outlining new measures introduced to prevent misuse of Grok. While the specific safeguards were not fully disclosed, authorities said they were satisfied enough to permit the service to resume, albeit under close monitoring.
The government emphasized that it would continue to evaluate Grok’s operations and warned that further violations could trigger renewed restrictions.
“Normalization of Grok service access is conditional upon X Corp’s written commitment, outlining concrete steps to improve service and prevent abuse. This commitment serves as the basis for the evaluation, not the end of the monitoring process,” Alexander said in Jakarta on Saturday (January 31, 2026).
“This normalization is accompanied by ongoing monitoring and evaluation. If any inconsistencies or further violations are discovered during its implementation, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Services will not hesitate to take corrective action, including re-terminating service access,” Alexander stressed.
Backstory
In response to mounting scrutiny, xAI recently restricted Grok’s image-generation feature for most users on X.
That move came after similar regulatory actions in Southeast Asia, where countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia also blocked the AI tool over content moderation failures.
These developments show growing concerns among emerging-market regulators about the societal risks posed by generative AI when guardrails are weak or poorly enforced.
The controversy also reached Europe, where oversight of big tech platforms has intensified under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The European Commission also launched a new formal investigation into X over its handling of sexual deepfakes, adding to existing probes into the platform’s compliance with EU digital rules. Regulators in the United Kingdom and France are also examining potential abuses linked to AI-generated content.
What you should know
Grok sits at the center of Elon Musk’s broader push into artificial intelligence. Launched through xAI, the chatbot is tightly integrated with X and is marketed as having “real-time” access to information on the platform, allowing it to respond to breaking news and trending discussions.
Musk also highlighted Grok’s ability to browse the internet for up-to-date information, positioning it as a more current and conversational alternative to other AI chatbots.
Initially released to beta testers, Grok was expected to be made available to X Premium+ subscribers once testing is completed. However, the recent regulatory setbacks highlight the commercial and legal risks facing AI-driven products, particularly as governments move to hold platforms accountable for downstream harms.
