Philippines lifts ban on Musk’s Grok chatbot after changes
The Philippines announced Wednesday it will end its ban on Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, less than a week after blocking the tool over its ability to generate sexualized deepfakes.
The move follows xAI, Grok’s developer, agreeing to modify the platform for the local market and remove its capability to create pornographic content, the country’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Last week, Musk’s social media platform X geoblocked Grok users from generating images of people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire in jurisdictions where such content is illegal. The Philippines became the third Southeast Asian country — after Indonesia and Malaysia — to block the chatbot on January 15 amid global backlash.
CICC undersecretary Renato Paraiso said Grok had pledged to stop all content manipulation and eliminate image features that allowed deepfake creation. Changes will also include the “total exclusion of pornographic content, particularly child sexual abuse material.”
A formal meeting with xAI will determine the timeline for Grok’s reinstatement. The ban followed concerns from the Philippine government about toxic content online, while California’s attorney general and several other countries have also launched investigations into xAI’s platform.
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