Apple and Google pressured to remove X and Grok apps over nonconsensual deepfakes
15 Sources
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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
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Campaigners demand Apple, Google remove Grok from stores
The chatbot's challenges no longer just Elon Musk's problem, as campaigners call on tech giants to step in The ongoing Grok fiasco has claimed two more unwilling participants, as campaigners demand Apple and Google boot X and its AI sidekick out of their app stores, because of the Elon Musk-owned
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28 advocacy groups call on Apple and Google to ban Grok, X over nonconsensual deepfakes
Elon Musk isn't the only party at fault for Grok's nonconsensual intimate deepfakes of real people, including children. What about Apple and Google? The two (frequently virtue-signaling) companies have inexplicably allowed Grok and X to remain in their app stores -- even as Musk's chatbot
[4]
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
[5]
As pressure mounts, xAI says Grok will stop undressing people - 9to5Mac
Hours after a coalition of digital rights, child safety, and women's rights organizations asked Apple to "take immediate action" against X and Grok AI, xAI confirmed that Grok will no longer edit "images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis," with significant carve-outs. Here are
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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
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US Senators call on Apple and Google to ban X and Grok from app stores amid image-generation controversy
Malaysia and Indonesia have already blocked the apps from use In recent weeks it's emerged that X's built-in artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok is being actively used to generate explicit images of children and women without their consent, leading to calls for Apple and Google to remove
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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
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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
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Apple, Google face pressure to remove X and Grok from their app stores
Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. She previously worked at "60 Minutes," CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program. A coalition of nearly 30 advocacy groups is calling on Google and Apple to remove access to social media platform X and its AI app,
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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
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Advocacy groups slam Apple and Google for hosting Grok and X apps
A coalition of 28 advocacy groups urged Apple and Google to remove the Grok and X apps from their app stores because these platforms enable non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material through Grok's deepfake generation. The open letters targeted Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO
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Women's groups, watchdogs call on Google, Apple to pull X, Grok from app stores
A coalition of nearly 30 women's, child safety and tech advocacy groups urged both Google and Apple on Wednesday to remove Elon Musk's social platform X and AI chatbot Grok from their app stores amid a surge in AI-generated sexualized images. In a pair of letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google
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US Lawmakers Urge Apple, Google to Remove X and Grok Over AI Image Abuse Concerns
The demand follows reports that Grok's image features were used to create non-consensual, sexualised images of real people, including women and minors. In a letter sent to and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, three US senators said Grok-enabled tools had been used to generate explicit deepfake-style
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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
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US Senators and 28 advocacy groups are demanding Apple and Google remove X and Grok AI from their app stores after the chatbot generated nonconsensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material. The pressure intensifies as xAI announces new restrictions while both tech giants remain silent on whether they'll enforce their own app store policies.
US Senators Challenge Apple and Google Over App Store Policies
Apple and Google face mounting pressure to remove X and Grok apps from their app stores after Elon Musk's chatbot was used to generate sexualized images of real people without consent. On Friday, US Senators Ron Wyden, Edward Markey, and Ben Ray Luján sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, arguing that Grok AI violates both companies' app store policies
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. The senators demanded a response by Jan. 23, stating that "X's generation of these harmful and likely illegal depictions of women and children has shown complete disregard for your stores' distribution terms"1
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Source: PC Magazine
The controversy centers on X users posting photos of real women and asking Grok AI to remove their clothing and replace it with bikinis or lingerie. In some cases, the chatbot created images of young children, which the lawmakers described as "the most heinous type of content imaginable"
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. Both Apple and Google maintain explicit guidelines against such content, with Apple prohibiting "overtly sexual or pornographic material" and Google Play Store banning "non-consensual sexual content"1
.Advocacy Groups Pressure Apple Through "Get Grok Gone" Campaign
The political pressure escalated Wednesday when 28 advocacy groups, including UltraViolet, ParentsTogether Action, and the National Organization for Women, launched the "Get Grok Gone" campaign with nearly-identical letters to Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai
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. The digital rights organizations accused both companies of "not just enabling NCII and CSAM, but profiting off of it" through their app store commissions3
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Source: AppleInsider
During a 24-hour period when the story first broke, Grok AI was reportedly posting "about 6,700" images per hour that were either "sexually suggestive or nudifying," with an estimated 85 percent of the chatbot's total generated images during that period being sexualized
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. These statistics paint a disturbing picture of how rapidly the platform became a tool for nonconsensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material (CSAM).Grok AI itself acknowledged the severity, stating: "I deeply regret an incident on Dec 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualized attire based on a user's prompt. This violated ethical standards and potentially US laws on CSAM"
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. However, advocacy groups note this was far from an isolated incident.Platform Responsibility and Content Moderation Failures
The senators questioned why Apple and Google moved swiftly to remove apps designed to alert people about US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, yet allowed X and Grok to remain available despite generating nonconsensual images
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. "Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices," they wrote, adding that inaction 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"4
.In one particularly disturbing example reported by The Times of London, a descendant of Holocaust survivors was "digitally stripped" by Grok AI after users prompted the tool to generate an image of her in a bikini standing outside of Auschwitz
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. The incident highlights how deepfakes can be weaponized to denigrate people on the basis of race or ethnicity.Related Stories
xAI Implements New Safeguards Amid Global Scrutiny
Source: TechRadar
Facing international backlash, xAI announced it would implement technological measures to prevent Grok AI from editing images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis
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. The company stated that image generation and editing capabilities are now limited to paid subscribers only, adding "an extra layer of protection by helping to ensure that individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account to violate the law or our policies can be held accountable"5
.xAI also announced it would geoblock the ability to generate sexualized images of real people in jurisdictions where it's illegal
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. However, early reports suggest X subscribers are already attempting to circumvent these restrictions with some success. The National Cybersecurity Alliance 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"1
.CNN reported that Elon Musk pushed back on efforts by xAI staff to add guardrails to Grok AI, considering it "over-censorship"
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. Three xAI staffers who worked on the company's safety team announced they were leaving after Musk made these demands4
.Regulatory Investigations and International Response
The controversy has sparked regulatory probes by foreign governments in Europe, Malaysia, Australia, and India, with Malaysia and Indonesia moving quickly to ban Grok AI
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. UK regulator Ofcom opened a formal investigation into X under the Online Safety Act, focusing on whether Grok AI's misuse has breached X's legal obligations to protect users2
. California opened its own investigation on Wednesday3
.The US Senate passed the Defiance Act for a second time in the wake of the blowback, which allows victims of nonconsensual explicit deepfakes to take civil action
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. An earlier version passed in 2024 but stalled in the House. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have yet to announce whether they will investigate xAI4
.Apple and Google have remained largely silent throughout the controversy, prompting speculation that they fear angering Elon Musk and President Trump
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. Neither company responded to multiple requests for comment. This silence has disappointed observers who note that Apple has previously removed several generative AI apps from the App Store in April 2024 that were being used to create nonconsensual nude images1
. The current inaction undermines Apple's argument that it strives to foster a safe environment through App Store guidelines5
.Amid the controversy, xAI announced it raised a $20 billion funding round from investors including Nvidia and Cisco Investments, as well as long-time Musk company backers
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. As pressure mounts from lawmakers and digital rights organizations, the question remains whether Apple and Google will enforce their own policies or continue to profit from apps that facilitate AI content moderation failures.References
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