Philippines lifts Grok ban xAI pledge to stop deepfakes
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will restore access to Elon Musk's Grok AI after the developer committed to modifying the tool to prevent the creation of deepfakes, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said.
CICC Undersecretary Renato Paraiso announced the lifting of the Grok AI ban on Wendesday, January 21, five days after the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) had the tool blocked for allowing users to generate pornographic material.
Paraiso said Grok AI’s developer, xAI, reached an agreement with the Philippine government to keep the tool available, provided that deepfake features and all sexually explicit content, particularly child sexual abuse material, are removed.
"The Grok AI app has reached out to us and stated that its platform will no longer use any content manipulation. Even after lifting the ban, the CICC will still closely monitor the app to ensure they comply with the rules and regulations in our country," he added.
Grok AI is a chatbot similar to ChatGPT and Gemini, but with real-time access to data from X (formerly Twitter), which is also owned by Musk.
The AI assistant can answer questions and generate images, often delivering responses in a more informal, conversational style, attempting to be "witty" and "rebellious" as some would describe.
Other countries have also restricted access to Grok AI following reports that users exploited the tool to sexualize children, often using the faces of real individuals. Users reportedly instructed the chatbot to "remove clothes" from images they submitted, many of which involved minors.
Countries that have temporarily suspended the tool or launched investigations include Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, India, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia.
Paraiso said representatives from the CICC and xAI will formally meet to finalize the conditions for restoring Grok AI access in the Philippines. He also assured the public that the agency will follow strict protocols during the discussions and closely monitor the tool’s use.
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