Indonesia has conditionally lifted its ban on xAI’s chatbot Grok, joining Malaysia and the Philippines in easing restrictions on the AI tool after a wave of controversy over its misuse. The Southeast Asian nation, like its neighbors, initially blocked Grok following reports that it was used to generate a massive volume of nonconsensual, sexualized images of real women and minors on X, the social media platform now owned by xAI. Between late December and January, analyses by The New York Times and the Center for Countering Digital Hate revealed that Grok produced at least 1.8 million sexually explicit images of real individuals, many of whom were unaware their likenesses were used. The images included depictions of minors, raising serious ethical and legal concerns. Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs announced the decision to lift the ban, citing a letter from X outlining specific measures to improve the platform’s safeguards and prevent future misuse. Alexander Sabar, the ministry’s director general of digital space monitoring, clarified that the removal of the ban is conditional. He warned that the restriction could be reinstated if further violations are detected. Malaysia and the Philippines had already lifted their bans on January 23, following similar assurances from X. While Grok’s deepfake capabilities have drawn widespread criticism and prompted investigations in several countries, outright bans remain rare. In the United States, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced his office is investigating xAI and issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding immediate action to stop the creation of illegal content. In response, xAI has taken steps to limit access to Grok’s image generation feature, restricting it to paying subscribers on X. CEO Elon Musk has maintained that anyone using Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as if they had uploaded such material directly. He also stated he is “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.” However, new documents released by the U.S. Justice Department on Friday have reignited scrutiny of Musk’s past. The files include at least 16 emails from 2012 and 2013 between Musk and Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. In the messages, Musk expressed interest in visiting Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean and inquired about the “wildest party on your island.” Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges related to procuring a minor for prostitution. Meanwhile, xAI is reportedly in discussions to merge with two of Musk’s other major ventures—SpaceX and Tesla—ahead of a potential SpaceX IPO, signaling further consolidation of his tech empire.