- X’s Grok AI tool has created pornographic images of women and children
- Now, US Senators have told Apple and Google they must ban the apps
- Malaysia and Indonesia have already blocked the apps from use
Recent reports indicate that X’s AI chatbot Grok has been used to generate explicit images of women and children without consent, prompting calls for Apple and Google to remove both the Grok and X apps from their app stores.
Pressure intensified when a group of US Senators wrote a letter to Apple and Google demanding action. The UK's media watchdog Ofcom has also launched an investigation into the matter.
The letter, signed by Senators Ron Wyden, Ben Ray Lujan, and Edward Markey, urges the companies to “enforce your app stores’ terms of service,” citing that “X’s generation of these harmful and likely illegal depictions of women and children has shown complete disregard for your stores’ distribution terms.”
The Senators highlighted how Grok has been “modifying images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed,” and noted that “Grok has reportedly created sexualized images of children,” actions that violate the app store policies of both Apple and Google.
Google’s terms prohibit users from creating or distributing content that facilitates the exploitation or abuse of children, while Apple expressly bans “Overtly sexual or pornographic material.” The Senators emphasized that ignoring X’s behavior would undermine the companies’ moderation practices.
The Pressure on X and Musk Grows
The Senators also pointed out both Apple and Google’s recent resistance to greater regulatory scrutiny of their app stores.
“Not taking action would undermine your claims in public and in court that your app stores offer a safer user experience than allowing users to download apps directly to their phones,” they wrote, stressing that this principle has been central to their advocacy against legislative reforms aimed at increasing app store competition.
Apple and Google have demonstrated their ability to swiftly remove apps, as noted by the Senators. “Your companies quickly removed apps that allowed users to lawfully report immigration enforcement activities, like ICEBlock and Red Dot,” they stated. “Unlike Grok’s disturbing content generation, these apps were not creating or hosting harmful or illegal content, yet you removed them based on claims that they posed a risk to immigration enforcers.”
The Senators expressed hope that Apple and Google would “demonstrate a similar level of responsiveness and initiate swift action to remove the X and Grok apps from your app stores.”
Regardless of the actions taken by Apple and Google, X and Grok are under increasing scrutiny globally. The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia recently blocked Grok amid the image-generation controversy, and legislators in the UK, European Union, and India are also closely examining the AI tool, indicating that more countries may follow suit.
