ICYMI: Luján, Wyden, Markey Urge Apple and Google to Remove X and Grok from App Stores Following Grok Generating Illegal Sexual Images at Scale
Washington, D.C. — In Case You Missed It: In response to X Corp’s Grok AI tool being used to generate nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children at scale in recent days, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) urged Apple and Google to 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.
NBC News: 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 New York Times: Grok’s production of sexually explicit images has drawn outrage from officials across the world, including Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, and U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon; Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts; and Ben Ray Lújan, Democrat of New Mexico, who sent a letter last week asking Apple and Google to remove the application from their online stores.
Reuters: In a letter published on Friday, senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ben Ray Luján 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.”
CNBC: 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 Luján 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.”
The Hill: U.S. lawmakers have also joined this chorus of voices. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) wrote to Apple and Google on Friday, asking the tech giants to remove X and Grok from their respective app stores.
Broadband Breakfast: Democratic Sens. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Edward Markey of Massachusetts pressed Apple and Google to remove the X and Grok apps from their app stores, citing reports that the Grok artificial intelligence tool had been used in recent days to generate nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children – in the lawmakers’ words, “the most heinous type of content imaginable.”
The Verge: In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote that “X’s generation of these harmful and likely illegal depictions of women and children has shown complete disregard for your stores’ distribution terms.”
KTSM: U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico, has joined with a two other U.S. senators to ask Apple and Google to remove the X and Grok apps from their app stories until the company address what the senators are calling “nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children” being generated by the Grok AI tool.
In recent days, X users have used the Grok AI tool to nonconsensually generate sexual imagery of real, private citizens, including sexualized depictions of children and modified depictions of women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt and even killed. Researchers have also discovered that the Grok app has reportedly created more than 70 sexualized images of children since August. Musk has reportedly encouraged this behavior, including reacting to these trends with laugh-cry emojis.
Apple and Google’s app store policies are clear that they prohibit disturbing and offensive content, which includes nonconsensually generated sexual images of children and women. The companies’ failure to act in response to Grok’s production of disturbing and likely illegal content, including potentially child sexual abuse materials, contrasts with their speedy decisions to remove apps that allow users to lawfully report immigration enforcement activities, following pressure from political leadership at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The full letter is available here.
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