Malaysia to take legal action against X over Grok AI concerns

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's communications regulator said on Tuesday it will take legal action against social media platform X due to concerns over user safety in relation to artificial intelligence feature Grok.

The generative AI chatbot Grok has sparked a global backlash by allowing users to create and publish sexualized images, prompting authorities around the world to take action against xAI, the Elon Musk-led firm behind the chatbot.

Malaysia and Indonesia temporarily blocked Grok over the weekend, while Britain's media regulator launched an investigation into Musk's X and French officials have reported the social media firm to prosecutors and regulators.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said it has identified the misuse of Grok to generate and disseminate harmful content, including obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive, and non-consensual manipulated images.

"Content allegedly involving women and minors is of serious concern... Such conduct contravenes Malaysian law and undermines the entities’ stated safety commitments," the commission said in a statement.

xAI replied to a Reuters email seeking comment with what seemed to be an automated response: "Legacy Media Lies." X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Malaysia's communications regulator said it served notices to X and xAI this month to remove the harmful content but said no action has been taken by the firms.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has strict laws governing online content, including a ban on obscene and pornographic materials. Malaysian authorities consider online gambling, scams, child pornography and grooming, cyberbullying and content related to race, religion and royalty as harmful. — Reuters