Elon Musk looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 19, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
Three Democratic senators are calling Apple and Google suspending X and Grok from their app stores, at least until the owner Elon Musk does not allow users to create and share non-consensual, explicit images and videos of child sexual abuse.
year an open letter To Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and CEO of Google 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 the app stores until CEO Elon Musk addresses these disturbing and potentially illegal practices.”
“Turning a blind eye to X’s egregious behavior makes a mockery of your moderation practices,” they wrote, adding that failure to take action “undermines your public and court claims that your app stores offer a safer user experience than allowing users to download apps directly to their phones.”
Musk’s xAI, developer of Grok and parent of social media platform X, responded to CNBC’s request for comment with an automated response. Google and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Grok and X allowed users to easily create and widely share “deep fake” explicit, sexual content featuring people who never gave permission for their images to be used in that way. Grok has also been used to create images that offend people based on their race or ethnicity.
As in one recent example, The Times of London reportedGrock “digitally removed” a generation of Holocaust survivors after users asked an AI tool to create a bikini image of them standing outside Auschwitz.
The problems have sparked widespread criticism and regulatory investigations by foreign governments in Europe, Malaysia, Australia and India. However, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department have yet to say whether they will investigate xAI.
On January 3Musk and X issued a statement saying, “Anyone using or encouraging Grok to create illegal content will be subject to the same penalties as uploading illegal content.”
Both Apple and Google have strict guidelines requiring app developers to refrain from uploading and sharing child sexual abuse images and other explicit or harmful content.
Social media and messaging apps including Tumblr and Telegram Apple’s App Store was previously suspended for failing to filter various inappropriate content.
X on Friday is reported to have been made Grok AI imaging features are only available to paid subscribers. However, Grok’s own app and website still allowed users to digitally undress, sexualize or humiliate people without Grok’s consent to use their photos or clips.
CNN reported Musk touted the Grok’s recent upgrades and relative lack of safety measures. Three xAI employees who worked on the company’s security team announced they were leaving after Musk made demands at X, the report said.
Amidst the backlash, xAI said this this week rose including a $20 billion funding round from investors Nvidia and Cisco Investmentsas well as Musk’s long-time backers Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX in Abu Dhabi and Baron Capital Group.
