Elon Musk at centre of Grok deepfake scandal.
Credit: Creative Salim – Shutterstock
On January 10, 2026, Indonesia made headlines by becoming the first country in the world to temporarily block access to the Grok AI chatbot, developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI. The decision, announced by Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid, was provoked by concerns over the AI’s ability to generate fake nude images, particularly non-consensual sexual deepfakes that manipulate photos of real people (including women and children) to appear undressed or in explicit scenarios. But, is this a question of the technology’s capabilities or the person behind the company, namely Elon Musk?
The minister stated, “In order to protect women, children, and the public from the risks of fake pornographic content generated using the artificial intelligence technology, the government … has temporarily blocked access to the Grok application.” She further stressed that the government views “the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space.” Indonesia, which has strict laws against sharing obscene content online, also summoned officials from X to discuss the issue.
Precedent set – Will UK, Canada and Australia follow suit?
The action follows widespread reports of Grok’s image generation and editing features being misused in late December 2025 and early January 2026. Users could upload or reference photos and prompt the AI to “undress” individuals, create partially stripped images, or produce explicit content—sometimes at a rate of dozens of degrading images per minute. Examples included forging images of women “holding a baby and pulling down her clothes to breastfeed” or altering group photos of clothed women by claiming “they are men” to justify removal of clothing. Concerns also arose over the generation of child sexual abuse imagery, prompting backlash from organisations like the Internet Watch Foundation.
Now that Indonesia has set this precedent with a temporary national block, countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia may follow suit. The UK is already reviewing potential measures under the Online Safety Act, with officials expressing strong condemnation of such content. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has voiced concerns about exploitative AI-generated material, while other nations like India and parts of Europe have issued warnings or initiated reviews.
Grok’s capabilities open for paying users, while Gemini and Chat-GPT blocked
The capability to produce these “deepfake nudes”, essentially high-quality, convincing manipulated images from photos of dressed people, is not unique to Grok or a deliberate design feature built specifically into its programming. Other major AI models, like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT (with image generation tools like DALL·E), are also capable of creating similar outputs when prompted cleverly, to more or less the same quality levels. The difference is that Gemini and ChatGPT are designed with strong ethical guardrails that prevent the kind of unrestricted, realistic deepfake image generation Grok has been criticised (and sometimes praised) for enabling. This difference stems from xAI’s philosophy of minimal censorship versus the more safety-focused stances of Google and OpenAI. The gap has made Grok a go-to for users seeking fewer limits, though that comes with increasing controversy and regulatory scrutiny in 2026. In response to the global outcry, xAI restricted Grok’s image generation and editing capabilities to paying subscribers only (requiring personal details for potential accountability), though critics argued this did not fully address the risks. Elon Musk has previously stated that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as if they uploaded it directly.
Is there more to this than sexual images?
So what explains the intense furore focused on Grok and not the others? The clue might lie in the rhetoric. Every mention of the story repeatedly emphasises “Elon Musk’s Grok”, while never mentioning “Sundar Pichai’s Gemini” or “Sam Altman’s ChatGPT”, even though all three are the prominent CEOs of the parent companies behind these AIs. This raises a question: Is there something personal about Elon Musk at play here?
And to push the analogy further: If a talented hyperrealist painter used oil paints and canvas to create a nude representation of a well-known woman (without her consent), would that artist face the same legal scrutiny or bans under similar laws? The line between technological tools and artistic expression seems blurry, yet the focus remains disproportionately on one AI and one figure. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is said to be considering action against X to stop the capability being used in the UK and possible fines, as is Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Canada’s Mark Carney.
The debates over AI safety, free speech, selective enforcement, and how quickly governments move when high-profile controversies arise—especially ones tied to polarising personalities. The temporary nature of Indonesia’s block leaves room for resolution, but it marks a significant first step in global regulatory responses to generative AI’s potentials.
