X, Grok removal from app stores sought by senators over sexual images

Google and Apple have been urged by Senate Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico to remove the X and Grok apps owned by Elon Musk's xAI firm following the involvement of the Grok AI tool in the unconsented creation of sexualized deepfake images, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Illicit photos generated by Grok, which included those of women being sexually abused, tortured, or murdered, as well as potential child sexual abuse materials, violate both Google and Apple app stores' terms of service, said the senators in a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"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," said the letter.

Both Google and Apple have yet to respond. Such a development comes days after the European Commission declared it was considering legal action against X over sexualized images created by Grok.