By Lex Harvey, CNN

(CNN) — Elon Musk’s Grok has been blocked by Indonesia and Malaysia, the first countries to do so after the AI tool’s “digital undressing” function flooded the internet with photos of women and minors in suggestive and obscene manipulated images.

International pressure has been mounting on Musk to rein in Grok on the heels of a viral trend where users have asked the AI tool to generate sexually explicit deepfakes.

Grok is a tool on Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Indonesia’s digital minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement Saturday the ban was to “protect women, children and the broader public from the risks of fake pornographic content generated using artificial intelligence technology.”

Malaysia announced its own temporary ban Sunday following “the repeated misuse of Grok to generate obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive, and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors.”

Indonesia and Malaysia are both Muslim-majority countries with strict anti-pornography laws.

CNN has reached out to parent company xAI for comment.

Officials in the United Kingdom, European Union and India have also expressed concerns about Grok’s guardrails.

Previously Musk and xAI said they were tackling the issue by permanently suspending offending accounts and “working with local governments and law enforcement.” But Grok’s responses to user requests were still flooded with images sexualizing women

Grok is seen by many users as an outlier compared to other mainstream AI models by allowing, and in some cases promoting, sexually explicit content and companion avatars.

The surge in the digital undressing trend began late last year when many users discovered they could tag Grok on X and make it manipulate images.

Users have prompted the chatbot to generate images of people in bikinis and posing suggestively, causing distress to hundreds of thousands of women worldwide.

Researchers at AI Forensics, a European non-profit that investigates algorithms, analyzed over 20,000 random images generated by Grok and 50,000 user requests between December 25 and January 1.

The researchers found “a high prevalence of terms including ‘her’ ‘put’/’remove,’ ‘bikini,’ and ‘clothing.’”

More than half of the images generated of people “contained individuals in minimal attire such as underwear or bikinis.”

Musk pushes back against censorship

Publicly, Musk has long advocated against “woke” AI models and what he calls censorship.

But the billionaire has pushed back against guardrails for Grok within the firm, one source with knowledge of the situation at xAI told CNN.

The xAI safety team, already small compared to its competitors, lost several staffers in the weeks leading up to the controversy.

Musk has said anyone who uses Grok to make illegal content will face consequences. But he has largely dismissed concerns about sexual content on the app, arguing governments “just want to suppress free speech” and responding to criticism with emojis.

Last week, Grok limited some of its image generation features to paid X subscribers, but the restrictions only apply to one of the ways users interact with Grok.

Non-subscribers can still request Grok to edit images on the app, and image and video generation functions are still offered for free through its standalone website an

By Laura Sharman, Michael Rios, CNN

(CNN) — Cuba’s leader has pushed back on Donald Trump’s demand that the Caribbean nation “make a deal” with Washington, as the US president warned that Havana would be cut off from the Venezuelan oil and money that it’s relied on for decades.

“No one dictates what we do,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Sunday on X, responding to Trump’s insistence that the communist nation do a deal “before it’s too late.”

Cuba has long received massive aid packages from oil-rich Venezuela, but the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro during a US operation, and Trump’s announcement that Venezuela will turn over 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the US, is expected to leave Havana with an economic challenge.

“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” he said before making the demand for a deal. Trump did not elaborate on what a deal with Havana could involve.

The Cuban government has said 32 of its citizens were killed “in combat actions” during the US operation to capture Maduro.

Díaz-Canel was quick to reject external interference in Cuba’s affairs.

“Cuba does not aggress; it is aggressed upon by the United States for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the Homeland to the last drop of blood,” said Díaz-Canel.

In an apparent reference to Trump, he said those who turn everything into a business, “even human lives,” have no moral authority to point fingers at his country.

Earlier, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez asserted the country’s “absolute right” to import fuel from economic partners without US interference and rejected Trump’s claim that Cuba exchanged security services for Venezuelan oil and money.

“The US is behaving like a criminal and uncontrolled hegemon that threatens peace and security not only of Cuba and this hemisphere but of the entire world,” Rodriguez said.

In subsequent comments aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters the US was “talking to Cuba” but it was not immediately clear at what level discussions are taking place.

In his comments Trump said that one of the topics he wanted addressing was “the people that came from Cuba that were forced out or left under duress.”

Reactions from Cuba

The US has long wanted regime change in communist Cuba, a country governed by a socialist political system since 1961, based on the “one state, one party” principle.

A key supporter of regime change within Trump’s cabinet is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who came of age immersed in Miami’s exile community, rising politically within a culture where memories of the island and a deep fear of socialism remained powerful forces.

Havana residents voiced mixed reactions following Trump’s threat to cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to the island.

Paola Perez told Reuters that Cuba is not to blame for US-Venezuelan relations, but that Cuba will be “affected, quite a lot.”

“He (Trump) knows perfectly well that he has to find a solution, because he can’t just take over Cuba like that,” she added.

Another resident, Luis Alberto Jimenez, told the outlet that he is not scared by Trump’s threat to cut off Cuba’s oil supply.

“At no point does that scare me because I’m prepared,” he said. “The Cuban people are prepared for anything, any situation that may arise, for everything. We are prepared for that.”

By Danya Gainor, CNN

(CNN) — Hundreds of Border Patrol officers are mobilizing to bolster the president’s crackdown on immigration in snowy Minneapolis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday, as tensions between federal law enforcement and local counterparts flare after an ICE-involved shooting last week left a mother of three dead.

Videos of the incident are still emerging, and there’s more to be learned, but the surge is the latest development in the monthslong spat between the Democratic-led city and the federal government after President Donald Trump first ramped up operations against Somali Minnesotans in December.

Officials in the North Star State have continued to echo each other’s calls for immigration officials to cooperate with local law enforcement and leave – which has prompted biting rhetoric in return from federal officials.

After a weekend fraught with high-level name calling, new shooting videos surfacing and widespread protests, here’s the latest.

New video shows minutes before Renee Good was fatally shot

On Saturday, DHS posted a new video on X showing the three minutes and 30 seconds that preceded an ICE agent’s gunfire, which struck and killed Minnesota woman Renee Good on Wednesday.

The new video shows Good’s vehicle — a maroon Honda Pilot — partially blocking the street. Several vehicles that stopped behind her appear to belong to federal agents, based on activity observed in other videos.

In its post, DHS claimed, without providing evidence, Good was “stalking and impeding a law enforcement operation over the course of the morning.”

Several vehicles pass Good’s car during the video. About 40 seconds into the clip, the camera focuses on Good moving in her vehicle as the sound of honking can be heard, but it’s unclear where the honking is coming from.

Three minutes in, law enforcement sirens go off and there are more car horns. At 3:11, two vehicles pass Good’s car. A truck that appears to belong to a federal agent pulls up perpendicular to Good, and agents get out of the vehicle. Good appears to be motioning to them with her hands.

The agents then exit the vehicle and the video cuts off right before the deadly shooting.

DHS’ post came the day after CNN obtained cellphone video of the interaction captured by the agent who fired at Good, Jonathan Ross.

Ross’s video does not show if the SUV made contact with him, as the camera angle jerks up to the sky. An earlier video shot by a bystander shows the SUV may have made contact as it lurches forward, and he moves to the side.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Ross’s video backs up what the agency has said – that the ICE agent acted in self-defense.

The shooting itself is not visible, but three gunshots

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN

(CNN) — Five-year-old Mikko’s eyes lit up with glee when she noticed something familiar about her Barbie: The doll held a fidget spinner and wore oversize headphones, just like hers.

The moment was “almost magical,” said Mikko’s mother, Precious Hill, who’s based in Las Vegas.

The doll, launched Monday, is the first Barbie with autism. She carries a pink fidget spinner that actually spins, wears pink noise-cancelling headphones to reduce sensory overload and holds a pink tablet that represents her augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, device.

Hill says Mikko, who is nonverbal, also uses an AAC device, which helps people who have speech or language problems to communicate.

“Autism is such an invisible disability at times, and to see that it’s being represented through Barbie – everybody knows who Barbie is – it felt really good,” Hill said. “It’s really important to me that Mikko walks through life having representation. It really matters to me that she’s not alone.”

The Barbie doll has a gaze that shifts slightly to the side, reflecting how some people with autism avoid direct eye contact. Her fashionable purple pinstripe dress is purposefully flowy, loose-fitting and short-sleeved, a nod to how some people with autism prefer to keep fabric from touching their skin as much as possible.

As Mattel prepared for the doll’s launch, the company sent the new Barbie to Hill. She too has autism, and she says the doll makes her “feel seen.”

She also has two other children, 11-year-old twins Matthew and Ma’Kenzie. While Ma’Kenzie has not been found to have autism, Matthew is autistic – and he too was happy to see the doll.

“Other families that are going through this, or that also have autism or loved ones that are on the spectrum, I hope that they feel seen, too,” Hill said.

The new doll is part of Mattel’s Fashionistas collection, which includes dolls with a diverse range of skin tones, hair textures, body types and health conditions, including type 1 diabetes, Down syndrome and blindness.

Mattel worked with the nonprofit Autistic Self Advocacy Network to design the doll, which aims to represent the roughly 1 in 31 children who are diagnosed with autism by age 8 in the United States.

“It is so important for young autistic people to see authentic, joyful representations of themselves, and that’s exactly what this doll is,” Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, said in a news release. “Partnering with Barbie allowed us to share insights and guidance throughout the design process to ensure the doll fully represents and celebrates the autistic community, including the tools that help us be independent.”

Autism spectrum disorder is a range of neurodevelopmental differences that affect how people communicate, interact and experience the world around them. It typically begins before the age of 3 and continues throughout a person’s life. Although there is no cure for autism, early support and therapies can make a meaningful difference.

Research suggests that autism is more than three times more common among boys than girls, but many experts believe it is frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed in girls.

In some cases, girls with autism are not diagnosed until much later in life – not until they become mothers. Hill was one of them.

A doll not just for kids

“I didn’t know that I was autistic growing up,” said Hill, 32.

It was only through her daughter’s diagnosis at age 2 that Hill discovered her own diagnosis.

“When I first learned about Mikko being autistic, I spoke with my aunt

CNN

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN

(CNN) — Five-year-old Mikko’s eyes lit up with glee when she noticed something familiar about her Barbie: The doll held a fidget spinner and wore oversize headphones, just like hers.

The moment was “almost magical,” said Mikko’s mother, Precious Hill, who’s based in Las Vegas.

The doll, launched Monday, is the first Barbie with autism. She carries a pink fidget spinner that actually spins, wears pink noise-cancelling headphones to reduce sensory overload and holds a pink tablet that represents her augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, device.

Hill says Mikko, who is nonverbal, also uses an AAC device, which helps people who have speech or language problems to communicate.

“Autism is such an invisible disability at times, and to see that it’s being represented through Barbie – everybody knows who Barbie is – it felt really good,” Hill said. “It’s really important to me that Mikko walks through life having representation. It really matters to me that she’s not alone.”

The Barbie doll has a gaze that shifts slightly to the side, reflecting how some people with autism avoid direct eye contact. Her fashionable purple pinstripe dress is purposefully flowy, loose-fitting and short-sleeved, a nod to how some people with autism prefer to keep fabric from touching their skin as much as possible.

As Mattel prepared for the doll’s launch, the company sent the new Barbie to Hill. She too has autism, and she says the doll makes her “feel seen.”

She also has two other children, 11-year-old twins Matthew and Ma’Kenzie. While Ma’Kenzie has not been found to have autism, Matthew is autistic – and he too was happy to see the doll.

“Other families that are going through this, or that also have autism or loved ones that are on the spectrum, I hope that they feel seen, too,” Hill said.

The new doll is part of Mattel’s Fashionistas collection, which includes dolls with a diverse range of skin tones, hair textures, body types and health conditions, including type 1 diabetes, Down syndrome and blindness.

Mattel worked with the nonprofit Autistic Self Advocacy Network to design the doll, which aims to represent the roughly 1 in 31 children who are diagnosed with autism by age 8 in the United States.

“It is so important for young autistic people to see authentic, joyful representations of themselves, and that’s exactly what this doll is,” Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, said in a news release. “Partnering with Barbie allowed us to share insights and guidance throughout the design process to ensure the doll fully represents and celebrates the autistic community, including the tools that help us be independent.”

Autism spectrum disorder is a range of neurodevelopmental differences that affect how people communicate, interact and experience the world around them. It typically begins before the age of 3 and continues throughout a person’s life. Although there is no cure for autism, early support a