DICT moves to block AI chatbot Grok over explicit deepfakes

MANILA, Philippines — The government is already working on blocking the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok in the Philippines due to its capability to generate sexually explicit deepfakes, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda said on Thursday.

Grok, developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, is a tool on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that enables users to create images. However, it has recently been misused to alter photos of real people, depicting them in revealing clothing.

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“So, CICC [Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center] is now working together with the NPC [National Privacy Commission] to block it,” Aguda said at a Palace briefing.

The sexually explicit images produced by Grok fall under online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (OSAEC), but Aguda noted that Grok’s digital footprint in the country is relatively small.

He added that ChatGPT is the most widely used AI application in the Philippines.

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“We no longer need to ask permission from X or notify them because, based on the content itself, it should be blocked. Blocking, just to give an idea of how it is done, is not a push-button process. For blocking to happen, all ISPs would have to initiate it,” he added in a mix of Filipino and English.

Malaysia and Indonesia were the first two countries to block Grok, also due to concerns over its misuse for sexually explicit content. /jpv