Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country, has lifted a temporary block on Grok, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by xAI, the technology company founded by Elon Musk, the United States billionaire and owner of the social media platform X. The restriction was removed on Friday, 23 January 2026, after Malaysian authorities said the platform introduced new safety steps.
Malaysia’s communications regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), had suspended access to Grok on X and on xAI on Saturday, 11 January 2026. The watchdog said the action followed concerns linked to AI-generated sexualised deepfake images, which are digitally fabricated or altered images that can make people appear in explicit content without their consent.
In an update on Friday, the MCMC said the “temporary access restriction on the use of the Grok application on the X platform has been lifted effective today.” The commission explained that the decision came after it received confirmation that X had put in place additional preventive and security measures. It did not list the specific changes introduced. Okay News reports that the regulator also said it would continue to monitor the platform’s compliance with Malaysian laws.
The MCMC added that Malaysian officials met representatives of X on Wednesday for clarification and commitments on safeguards and legal compliance. According to the commission, X confirmed that the requested security measures had been implemented, and authorities would keep watching the situation.
Malaysia had earlier warned of legal action against X and xAI if the platforms did not address the issue. The concerns gained wider attention after researchers said on Thursday that Grok produced an estimated three million sexualised images of women and children within days, raising global alarm about how generative AI tools can be used to create harmful and illegal content.
Following the backlash, X said it would restrict the ability of Grok and X users to generate images of people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire in places where such content is illegal.
