Elon Musk looks connected arsenic US President Donald Trump speaks astatine the US-Saudi Investment Forum astatine the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts successful Washington, DC connected November 19, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
Three Democratic senators are calling connected Apple and Google to suspend the X and Grok apps from their stores, astatine slightest until proprietor Elon Musk disallows them from letting users make and stock nonconsensual, explicit images and depictions of kid intersexual abuse.
In an unfastened letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai connected Friday, Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico said the tech giants should, "immediately region the X and Grok apps from their app stores until the company's Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, addresses these disturbing and apt amerciable activities."
"Turning a unsighted oculus to X's egregious behaviour would marque a mockery of your moderation practices," they wrote, adding that a nonaccomplishment to instrumentality enactment would "undermine your claims successful nationalist and successful tribunal that your app stores connection a safer idiosyncratic acquisition than letting users download apps straight to their phones."
Musk's xAI, the developer of Grok and genitor of societal media level X, responded to CNBC's petition for remark with an automated reply. Google and Apple didn't instantly respond to requests for comment.
Grok and X person been letting users easy make and wide stock "deepfake" explicit, sexualized contented that includes radical who ne'er gave support for their images to beryllium utilized successful specified manner. Grok has besides been utilized to make images that denigrate radical connected the ground of their contention oregon ethnicity.
In 1 caller example, arsenic The Times of London reported, "A descendant of Holocaust survivors was 'digitally stripped'" by Grok aft users prompted the AI instrumentality to make an representation of her successful a bikini lasting extracurricular of Auschwitz.
The issues person sparked wide disapproval and regulatory probes by overseas governments successful Europe, Malaysia, Australia and India. However, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice person yet to accidental whether they volition analyse xAI.
On Jan. 3, Musk and X issued statements saying that "anyone utilizing oregon prompting Grok to marque amerciable contented volition endure the aforesaid consequences arsenic if they upload amerciable content."
Apple and Google some person stringent guidelines for app developers that would necessitate them to forestall the uploading and sharing of images depicting kid intersexual abuse, and different explicit oregon harmful content.
Social media and messaging apps including Tumblr and Telegram person been antecedently suspended by the Apple app store for failures to filter a assortment of inappropriate content.
On Friday, X reportedly made Grok AI representation procreation features disposable for usage by paying subscribers only. However, Grok's standalone app and website inactive allowed users to punctual Grok to digitally undress, sexualize oregon degrade radical without archetypal obtaining consent to usage their photos oregon clips.
CNN reported that Grok's caller diagnostic updates, and comparative deficiency of safeguards, were demanded by Musk. Three xAI staffers who worked connected the company's information squad announced connected X that they were leaving aft Musk made the demands, the study said.
In the midst of the backlash, xAI said this week that it raised a $20 cardinal backing circular from investors including Nvidia and Cisco Investments, as good arsenic long-time Musk institution backers Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity, Qatar Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi's MGX and Baron Capital Group.
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