Senators Demand Apple and Google Remove X and Grok Apps Over AI-Generated Abuse Images

US Senators Urge Apple, Google to Pull X, Grok Apps Over Sexualized Imagery

Several Democratic senators are asking Apple and Google to remove the Grok app from their app stores, citing the controversy over the chatbot creating sexualized images of real people. On Friday, Sens. Ron Wyden, Edward Markey, and Ben Ray Luján argued that the images violate the mobile app stores' rules. "X's generation of these harmful and likely illegal depictions of women and children has shown complete disregard for your stores' distribution terms," they wrote in a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. "Apple and Google must remove these apps from the app stores until X's policy violations are addressed." X users have been posting photos of real women on their feeds and asking Grok to remove their clothing and replace it with bikinis or lingerie. The chatbot from Elon Musk's xAI has largely complied; in some cases, it created photos of young children, "the most heinous type of content imaginable," the lawmakers wrote. Both app stores have long had rules against pornography and erotic content. Apple prohibits "overtly sexual or pornographic material," along with content deemed "exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy." In April 2024, Apple removed several generative AI apps from the App Store that were being used to create nonconsensual nude images. The Google Play Store bans the distribution of "non-consensual sexual content." As a result, the senators say both companies should crack down, even though X and Grok are classified as social media and chatbot apps. "Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices," the senators wrote. "Indeed, not taking action would undermine your claims in public and in court that your app stores offer a safer user experience than letting users download apps directly to their phones." The letter questions why X and Grok have remained up when Apple and Google moved swiftly to remove apps designed to alert people about US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The senators are demanding a response by Jan. 23. Apple and Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But in response to the controversy, X has now limited Grok's image generation to paid subscribers. X's safety team has also vowed to ban accounts and work with law enforcement to crack down on users found prompting Grok to create AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The National Cybersecurity Alliance, however, argues that "Access restrictions alone aren't a comprehensive safeguard, as motivated bad actors may still find ways around them, and meaningful user protection ultimately needs to be grounded in how these tools are designed and governed." Earlier this month, Musk tweeted, "Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content." Still, CNN reports that Musk has pushed back on efforts by xAI staff to add guardrails to Grok, considering it "over-censorship." This comes as the UK government is also considering a ban on X.

Grok and X should be suspended from Apple, Google app stores, Democratic senators say

Elon Musk looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks at the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC on November 19, 2025. Three Democratic senators are calling on Apple and Google to suspend the X and Grok apps from their stores, at least until owner Elon Musk disallows them from letting users create and share nonconsensual, explicit images and depictions of child sexual abuse. In an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Friday, Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico said the tech giants should, "immediately remove the X and Grok apps from their app stores until the company's Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, addresses these disturbing and likely illegal activities." "Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices," they wrote, adding that a failure to take action would "undermine your claims in public and in court that your app stores offer a safer user experience than letting users download apps directly to their phones." Musk's xAI, the developer of Grok and parent of social media platform X, responded to CNBC's request for comment with an automated reply. Google and Apple didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Grok and X have been letting users easily generate and widely share "deepfake" explicit, sexualized content that includes people who never gave permission for their images to be used in such manner. Grok has also been used to generate images that denigrate people on the basis of their race or ethnicity. In one recent example, as The Times of London reported, "A descendant of Holocaust survivors was 'digitally stripped'" by Grok after users prompted the AI tool to generate an image of her in a bikini standing outside of Auschwitz. The issues have sparked widespread criticism and regulatory probes by foreign governments in Europe, Malaysia, Australia and India. However, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have yet to say whether they will investigate xAI. On Jan. 3, Musk and X issued statements saying that "anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content." Apple and Google both have stringent guidelines for app developers that would require them to prevent the uploading and sharing of images depicting child sexual abuse, and other explicit or harmful content. Social media and messaging apps including Tumblr and Telegram have been previously suspended by the Apple app store for failures to filter a variety of inappropriate content. On Friday, X reportedly made Grok AI image generation features available for use by paying subscribers only. However, Grok's standalone app and website still allowed users to prompt Grok to digitally undress, sexualize or degrade people without first obtaining consent to use their photos or clips. CNN reported that Grok's recent feature updates, and relative lack of safeguards, were demanded by Musk. Three xAI staffers who worked on the company's safety team announced on X that they were leaving after Musk made the demands, the report said. In the midst of the backlash, xAI said this week that it raised a $20 billion funding round from investors including Nvidia and Cisco Investments, as well as long-time Musk company backers Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity, Qatar Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi's MGX and Baron Capital Group.

Apple asked to pull X and Grok apps over 'sickening content generation' - 9to5Mac

Three U.S. Senators have asked Apple CEO Tim Cook to temporarily remove X and Grok from the App Store due to "sickening content generation" in recent days. Senators Ron Wyden, Ed Markey, and Ben Ray Luján penned an open letter to the CEOs of Apple and Google, asking both companies to pull X and Grok apps "pending a full investigation" of "mass generation of nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children." We write to ask that you enforce your app stores' terms of service against X Corp's (hereafter, "X") X and Grok apps for their mass generation of nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children. X's generation of these harmful and likely illegal depictions of women and children has shown complete disregard for your stores' distribution terms. Apple and Google must remove these apps from the app stores until X's policy violations are addressed. In recent days, X users have used the app's Grok AI tool to generate nonconsensual sexual imagery of real, private citizens at scale. This trend has included Grok modifying images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed. In some cases, Grok has reportedly created sexualized images of children -- the most heinous type of content imaginable. What is more, X has reportedly encouraged this behavior, including through the company's CEO Elon Musk acknowledging this trend with laugh-cry emoji reactions. Notably, the letter points to Apple and Google recently pulling apps related to tracking Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity over government pressure as precedent for their request.

U.S. Senators Ask Apple and Google to Remove X and Grok Apps Over Sexualized Image Generation

In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Ben Ray Lujan, and Edward Markey have requested that Apple and Google remove X Corp's X and Grok apps from their app stores over recent incidents of "mass generation of nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children." X has come under fire over the past week amid reports of Grok's AI image generation capabilities being used to create images depicting women and children in bikinis or underwear. In response, X appears to have scaled back the ability for Grok to generate images in response to X posts by non-paying users, but The Verge notes that the tools remain available to paying subscribers and through the dedicated Grok tab in the X and in the standalone Grok app. The senators argue that the "harmful and likely illegal depictions" are in violation of Apple's and Google's app store terms and that the two companies must remove the apps until the policy violations are addressed. . . . Apple's terms of service bar apps from including "offensive" or "just plain creepy" content, which under any definition must include nonconsensually-generated sexualized images of children and women. Further, Apple's terms explicitly bar apps from including content that is "[o]vertly sexual or pornographic material" including material "intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings." Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices. Indeed, not taking action would undermine your claims in public and in court that your app stores offer a safer user experience than letting users download apps directly to their phones. This principle has been core to your advocacy against legislative reforms to increase app store competition and your defenses to claims that your app stores abuse their market power through their payment systems. The senators request a written response to their letter by January 23.

AppleInsider.com

A group of US Senators aren't impressed by Elon Musk taking the smallest of corrective actions in moving Grok's ability to make child porn behind a paywall, and want X removed from the App Store. The ability for Grok to take an image of a person and generate a version of them undressed is abhorrent. But it's also the tip of the iceberg, as the feature has also been used to show women being abused and even killed. After initially ignoring criticism and calling nonconsensual Grok-generated images "way funnier," Elon Musk has now removed the feature from public use. Rather than ending the issue, though, Musk is attempting to profit from it by making it be a premium feature. US Senators Ron Wyden, Edward J. Markey, and Ben Ray Lujan figure that if you can't stop Musk at the source, you can cut off his water supply. They have jointly written to both Apple's Tim Cook and Google's Sundar Pichai, asking the X be removed from their respective app stores. "We write to ask that you enforce your app stores' terms of service," they write in the full letter. They note that Grok has been used to modify images "to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed." The senators also say that researchers have found a Grok archive [of] nearly 100 images of potential child sexual abuse materials generated since August. They argue that this all means that it is clear X and Grok are in violation of the app stores' policies. In the case of Apple, they're referring to the section in the App Store Review Guidelines regarding objectionable content. Those do specifically say apps shouldn't allow offensive "or just plain creepy" content. Consequently, the senators argue that there is no escaping the fact that the Grok has breached the terms of the App Store. So turning a blind eye to this, "would make a mockery of your moderation practices." The senators take a dig at both Apple and Google for how they were willing to quickly remove the harmless ICEBlock app when pressured by the US government. They say they hope Apple and Google will respond with similar speed now. They're asking Apple to remove the X and Grok apps, at least temporarily. And they want a written response from the companies within two weeks. Neither Apple nor Google have yet responded publicly. US Senators This is not the first time that any of these three senators have pursued technology issues, either through bills or letters. In 2021, for instance, Senator Ben Ray Lujan, campaigned to make social media liable for spreading health misinformation. Going further back, Senator Edward J Markey was one of two senators who wrote to Steve Jobs about Apple privacy in 2010. But it's perhaps Senator Wyden who is best known for writing open letters -- and possibly the most effective. In 2023, he wrote a seemingly nonsensical open letter to the Department of Justice, making the apparently absurd claim that governments were spying on iPhone owners by use of push notifications. Apple was expected to deny this, but instead effectively said thank you. It is true, but Apple had been forbidden to reveal the fact until Wyden brought it out into the open. AI App Store dangers Separately, in December 2025, US attorneys general warned Apple and others that "delusional outputs" from AI apps may be violating the law.

Senators urged Apple and Google to remove X and Grok from app stores over sexual deepfakes

Three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to remove Elon Musk's apps X and Grok from their app stores Thursday evening after xAI's Grok artificial intelligence tool had been used to flood X with sexualized nonconsensual images of real people. Hours later, X adjusted how Grok operated on the social media site, restricting its image generation to paying premium subscribers, and seemingly restricting what types of images Grok can create on X. The Grok reply bot on X has churned out thousands of sexualized images an hour this week, mostly of women but at times of children. Early Friday, it appears to have pivoted to limiting that feature on the social media app. But on the standalone Grok app and website, Grok will still create sexualized deepfakes. In an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico asked the companies to "enforce" terms of service that appear to ban the activity that was surging on X and is still possible on Grok. The terms of service of Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store both appear to forbid apps that allow sexualized images of people without their consent, the senators wrote. "Apple and Google must remove these apps from the application stores until X's policy violations are addressed." For more than a week, users have prompted the official Grok reply chatbot to generate sexualized images of nonconsenting people, putting them in more revealing clothing such as swimsuits and underwear. "X users have used the app's Grok AI tool to generate nonconsensual sexual imagery of real, private citizens at scale," the senators wrote. "This trend has included Grok modifying images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed." "Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices. Indeed, not taking action would undermine your claims in public and in court that your app stores offer a safer user experience than letting users download apps directly to their phones," they said. Friday morning's move by X seems at least partly in response to sustained backlash against Grok's production of sexual deepfakes, but Musk and X have not indicated that there will be a wider rollback of Grok's capabilities on all platforms, including the downloadable Grok app, which remains in the Google and Apple app stores. On Sunday, Musk and X reiterated that making illegal content will result in expulsion from the platform, though most of the content that was being made by the chatbot did not fit into that category. Apple's terms of service for its App Store say that "Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy." That includes "Overtly sexual or pornographic material, defined as 'explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.'" The App Store also says apps should not tolerate "defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content," particularly "if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate, or harm a targeted individual or group." Google's terms of service for its Play Store say that it does not "allow apps that contain or promote content associated with sexually predatory behavior, or distribute non-consensual sexual content." Both Apple and Google have previously removed apps devoted to "nudifying" images of real people. Grok and X are currently both popular on the Google and Apple app stores. Friday morning, Grok, where the sexual deepfakes are still seemingly allowed to be made, was ranked no. 4 in Apples App Store and No. 10 in Google's. Neither company responded to a request for comment about the senators' letter, nor to previous NBC News questions about how the companies are considering X's role in nonconsensual sexualized imagery. Musk, the owner of both X and xAI, the AI company that powers Grok, has long campaigned against heavy moderation, which he has equated with "censorship." In December, he unveiled a version of Grok that would manipulate images of real people. An NBC News review of some of the deepfake images churned out this week found that most are of women who are depicted as wearing skimpy clothing, but some are of children. In some images, users successfully prompted Grok to put people in transparent or semi-transparent underwear, effectively making them nude.

Democratic U.S. senators demand Apple, Google take X and Grok off app stores over sexual images

WASHINGTON - Three Democratic U.S. senators are calling on Apple (AAPL.O) and Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) to remove X and its built-in artificial intelligence chatbot Grok from their app stores, citing the spread of nonconsensual sexual images of women and minors on the platform. In a letter published on Friday, senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and Edward Markey of Massachusetts said Google and Apple "must remove these apps from the app stores until X's policy violations are addressed." X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been under fire from officials around the world since last week, when Grok began flooding the site with AI-generated non-consensual images of women and children wearing revealing bikinis, see-through underwear, or in degrading, violent, or sexualized poses. The senators' letter, first reported by NBC News, noted that Google has terms of service that bar app makers from "creating, uploading, or distributing content that facilitates the exploitation or abuse of children." Apple's terms of service, they said, bar "sexual or pornographic material." The senators noted that, in the past, both tech giants have moved swiftly to kick offending apps off their platforms. "Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behaviour would make a mockery of your moderation practices," the letter said. Google and Apple did not immediately return messages seeking comment. X referred Reuters to a Jan. 2 post in which it said the site takes action "against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material." X's parent company xAI did not answer specific questions about the letter or Grok's explicit output, sending only its generic response that cited unspecified "Legacy Media Lies." Musk has responded with laugh-cry emojis to AI-altered photographs of prominent people in bikinis and posted several times a day about X's popularity. At one point, he blamed users for unlawful content generated by his chatbot, saying: "anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content." On Friday, British technology minister Liz Kendall said she expected media regulator Ofcom to take action over X "in days, not weeks," noting that the watchdog was empowered to issue hefty fines or even block services from Britain if they failed to comply. "X needs to get a grip and get this material down," she said. With pressure mounting, Musk's xAI, which operates Grok and owns X, appeared to be imposing some restrictions on Grok's public image generation. Public requests from X users to digitally strip women down to bikinis were met with a message saying image editing functionality was "currently limited to paying subscribers." X users were still able to create sexualized images using the Grok tab and then post the images to X. The standalone Grok app, which operates separately from X, was also still allowing users to generate images without a subscription. Reuters could not establish the extent to which the changes had curbed generation of non-consensual imagery, if at all. Wyden said that the tweaks did not dampen his concern. "All X's changes do is make some of its users pay for the privilege of producing horrific images on the X app, while Musk profits from the abuse of children," he wrote in an email.