Grok app should be suspended from Apple and Google: Democratic senators

Three Democratic senators question Apple And Google suspend the X and Grok apps from their stores, at least until the owner Elon Musk prohibits them from letting users create and share explicit, non-consensual images and depictions of child sexual abuse.

In an open letter to the CEO of Apple Tim Cook and CEO of Google Sundar Pichai On Friday, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico said the tech giants should “immediately remove apps X and Grok from their app stores until the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, addresses these disturbing and likely illegal activities.”

“Turning a blind eye to

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 Grok has also been used to generate images denigrating people based on their race or ethnicity.

In a recent example, as reported by the Times of London reported“A descendant of Holocaust survivors was ‘digitally stripped'” by Grok after users asked the AI ​​tool to generate an image of her in a bikini, standing outside Auschwitz.

These problems have sparked widespread criticism and regulatory investigations from foreign governments in Europe, Malaysia, Australia and India. However, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have not yet indicated whether they will investigate xAI.

On January 3Musk and

Both Apple and Google have strict guidelines for app developers that would require them to prevent the uploading and sharing of images depicting child sexual abuse and other explicit or harmful content.

Social media and messaging apps, including Tumblr And Telegram have already been suspended by the Apple App Store for failing to filter a variety of inappropriate content.

Friday X would have done Grok AI image generation features available only to paid subscribers. However, Grok’s standalone app and website still allowed users to trick Grok into stripping, sexualizing, or digitally degrading people without first obtaining consent to use their photos or clips.

CNN reported that Grok’s recent feature updates and relative lack of safeguards were demanded by Musk. Three xAI staff members who worked on the company’s security team announced on X that they were leaving after Musk made these demands, according to the report.

Amid the backlash, xAI said this week that it raised a $20 billion funding round from investors, including Nvidia And Cisco Investmentsas well as long-time corporate backers Musk, Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX of Abu Dhabi and Baron Capital Group.

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