Malaysia and Indonesia have moved to block access to Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot created by Elon Musk’s company xAI, becoming the first countries to take such action as concerns grow over how the tool is being used.
Officials and regulators in both countries cited fears that the chatbot has been exploited to create sexually explicit and nonconsensual images. The move comes amid a broader global debate over whether safeguards built into fast-evolving AI systems are keeping pace with real-world misuse.
Grok, which is available through Musk’s social media platform X, has faced criticism for generating altered images depicting women in bikinis or sexualized poses. Serious concerns have also been raised about images involving children, intensifying calls for stronger oversight of generative AI technologies capable of convincingly producing images, audio, and text.
“The government sees nonconsensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the safety of citizens in the digital space,” Indonesian Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid told in a statement.
Pressure on Grok is not limited to Southeast Asia. Regulators and governments in the European Union, India, France, and the United Kingdom are also taking a closer look as concerns over AI-generated sexual content spread across borders.
In Britain, the government said this week it plans to make so-called nudification apps a criminal offense, signaling a tougher stance on tools that can be used to create explicit images without consent. The country’s media regulator has also opened an investigation into whether Grok violated the law by enabling the sharing of sexualized images of children.
xAI recently restricted image generation and editing on Grok to paying users following a global backlash over sexualized deepfakes. Critics argue the move falls short and does not fully prevent abuse, fueling calls for stronger controls and clearer accountability.
The controversy widened further after Ashley St. Clair, known for her past as a right-wing influencer, struck a different tone in a post on X last weekend. Asked directly about her history of transphobic remarks, she responded, “I feel immense guilt for my role.”
She said she felt “even more guilt” over past comments that “may have caused my son’s sister more pain,” referring to Vivian Wilson, Elon Musk’s eldest child, who publicly came out as transgender in 2020. In the same post, St. Clair issued an apology, writing that she has been “trying incredibly hard privately to learn + advocate for those within the trans community that I’ve hurt.”
Musk weighed in shortly afterward, replying to an X user who criticized St. Clair’s apology. He said he would file for full custody of the child that day, citing St. Clair’s “statements implying she might transition a one-year-old boy.”
St. Clair’s post did not state or suggest that she intended to transition the child.
St. Clair has also drawn attention for her work as an author, including a children’s book titled Elephants Are Not Birds. According to its synopsis, the story follows an elephant who “learns that even though he can sing, he is not a bird, even if Culture insists that he is.”
She has described the book as an “unapologetic rebuke” of “transgender acceptance,” a stance that has resurfaced as her past views and recent statements continue to be scrutinized alongside the broader controversy.
The child St. Clair shares with Musk is the billionaire’s 13th known living child. Musk has had children with at least four women, including author Justine Wilson, his first wife; singer and songwriter Grimes; Neuralink operations director Shivon Zilis; and St. Clair. His first child with Wilson died in infancy.
Musk does not appear to have a relationship with his eldest daughter, Vivian Wilson. Vivian told NBC News that she was berated by Musk as a child for her “femininity and queerness.” Musk has publicly said Vivian is “dead, killed by the woke mind virus,” while Vivian has described her father as “quick to anger” and “uncaring and narcissistic.”
St. Clair publicly revealed the birth of her child with Musk last year, about five months after the baby was born. She said she initially kept the information private out of safety and privacy concerns, but chose to disclose it after learning that “tabloid media” planned to report on the child’s existence.
READ: ‘Remove the top’: Grok AI floods with sexualized images of women (January 3, 2026)
Musk responded on X by saying he did not know whether the child was his, but added that he was open to finding out. “Despite not knowing for sure,” Musk wrote, “I have given Ashley $2.5M and am sending her $500k/year.”
St. Clair pushed back, saying Musk had refused a paternity test before the child was born and accused him of using financial support as leverage. She wrote that he was “sending support for your child that you thought was necessary… until you withdrew most of it to maintain control and punish me for ‘disobedience.’”
Court records show St. Clair filed for sole custody and requested a court-ordered paternity test last year. That case remains ongoing.