While one could argue the many advantages that AI has brought to several industries across the globe, there is no doubt about the questionable ethics, lack of accountability, and what AI could mean for the future of work.
Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters
In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a widely used tool, integrated in systems all across the world to make processes faster, smarter, and more efficient for users. AI technology has taken over various aspects of our lives, from smartphones and search engines to healthcare, finance, education, and even public services worldwide.
Over time, as the use of AI continues to expand, the AI industry has transformed various industries and aspects of everyday life. While one could argue the many advantages that AI has brought to several industries across the globe, there is no doubt about the questionable ethics, lack of accountability, and what AI could mean for the future of work. Since the introduction of AI-integrated tools such as ChatGPT and Grok have become widely used tools across all age groups across the globe, along with the benefits, these tools have stirred several controversies. One of the biggest conversations surrounding the questionable ethics of AI has been the use of the tool to create deepfake videos and photos, as AI can manipulate a person's face or body as per the prompt put into the chatbot by a user.
One of the biggest cases that raised awareness regarding the deepfakes occurred in 2024, as a deepfake picture of Taylor Swift started circulating across social media sites such as X and Telegram, prompting US politicians to call for new laws, criminalising the creation of deepfake images. While the public continues to fight against the misuse of AI, as developers continue to integrate AI use into more and more platforms, such deepfakes continue to become a common occurrence. Although it used to be much easier to tell apart a real picture from an AI-generated image due to noticeable inconsistencies, such as missing or additional fingers and toes in an image, by 2026, increasingly refined prompts have enabled the creation of images and videos that are difficult to tell apart from reality.
With the continued misuse of AI tools such as Grok, a chatbot which was created by xAI - Elon Musk’s AI company, which launched in 2023, both Malaysia and Indonesia have now blocked access to Grok. According to Al Jazeera news, the reason behind the block came amidst a global uproar over the chatbot’s ability to create sexually explicit images of people without their consent. On Sunday, 11 January 2026, Malaysia announced a temporary block on access to Grok, following Indonesia, which took the same measures on Saturday, becoming the first country to temporarily deny access to the AI bot. According to Reuters, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commissions (MCMC) said that it would restrict access to Grok following repeated misuse of the tool to generate obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive, and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors. In addition to announcing this temporary block, MCMC also noted that access to Grok will continue to be denied until effective safeguards are implemented by the developers.
With these two countries taking decisive measures to safeguard the public of the countries, it has been reported by several news agencies, including The Guardian, that xAI has now stated that it was going to restrict image generation and editing to pay subscribers.
