By Amanda Lee

The Philippines will lift its ban on Grok, the artificial-intelligence chatbot created by Elon Musk's company xAI, after what regulators said were successful talks with the developer.

The AI chatbot has come under significant criticism since a change late last year began allowing users to edit photos with text prompts, leading to concerns about the sexualization of images.

Regulators in the Philippines banned Grok AI last week, citing its ability to generate "nonconsensual illicit deepfakes" and sexually explicit content.

The short-lived ban, which began on Jan. 16, will now be lifted after "successful negotiations with the developer," the Philippines' cybercrime watchdog said in a statement Wednesday.

According to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, xAI reached out to the Philippine government, pledging to modify the tool specifically for the local market.

X didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The CICC said the modifications include omitting the image/content manipulation features that allow deepfakes to be made, and the total exclusion of pornographic content.

"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," said Renato Paraiso, undersecretary at the agency.

Governments and regulators elsewhere have raised similar concerns about AI-generated sexual images.

The U.K.'s communications watchdog earlier this month launched an investigation into Musk's X social-media platform over the use of Grok.

Write to Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 21, 2026 05:26 ET (10:26 GMT)

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