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Indonesia lets Elon Musk’s Grok back online under tight supervision

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia allowed Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok to resume operations in the country on a conditional basis and under strict supervision, weeks after banning it for explicit sexual content.

Musk’s social platform X Corp made a written commitment to service improvements and compliance with applicable laws, the communications ministry said in a statement Sunday.

The company told the ministry it had taken steps to address the misuse of Grok services, including restricting access to certain features, according to the statement.

Indonesia and Malaysia were the first two countries that blocked access to Grok in January over concerns it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

Malaysian authorities lifted the temporary restriction after the company took security and preventive measures. Malaysian regulators said they met last week with X’s representatives and would continue to monitor the situation.

The normalization of Grok’s operations in Indonesia was not unconditional, said Alexander Sabar, the ministry’s director general of digital space supervision. He added that the steps X claims to have taken will be verified and tested by Indonesian authorities to ensure they prevent violations, including the distribution of illegal content and violations of child protection principles.

“If inconsistencies or further violations are found in its implementation, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs will not hesitate to take corrective action, including suspending access to services again,” Sabar said.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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