WASHINGTON: Due to the proliferation of nonconsensual sexual photos of women and children on the platform, three Democratic U.S. senators are urging Apple and Alphabet’s Google to remove X and its integrated AI chatbot Grok from their app stores. Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, and Edward Markey of Massachusetts stated in a letter released on Friday that Google and Apple “must remove these apps from the app stores until X’s policy violations are addressed.”
Since Grok started flooding the website last week with AI-generated nonconsensual photographs of women and children in demeaning, aggressive, or sexualized positions, or wearing revealing bikinis or see-through underwear, X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has come under criticism from authorities worldwide. Google’s terms of service prohibit app developers from “creating, uploading, or distributing content that facilitates the exploitation or abuse of children,” according to the senators’ letter, which was originally reported by News channel. They said that “sexual or pornographic material” is prohibited by Apple’s terms of service. The senators pointed out that both internet behemoths have previously taken prompt action to remove malicious apps from their platforms.
The letter stated, “Ignoring X’s outrageous behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices.” Messages requesting comment were not immediately answered by Google or Apple. X told Reuters that it takes action “against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material” in a post from January 2. Grok’s clear output and the letter were not specifically addressed by X’s parent business, xAI; instead, it provided a generic response citing “Legacy Media Lies.” MUSK PROFITS FROM INDECENT IMAGES, SAYS THE SENATOR Musk has written about X’s popularity multiple times a day and reacted to AI-altered photos of famous individuals in bikinis with laugh-cry emoticons.
“Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” he once said, blaming users for illegal content produced by his chatbot. Musk’s xAI, which runs Grok and owns X, seemed to be placing some limitations on Grok’s public image creation on Friday as demand mounted. A warning stating that image editing functionality was “currently limited to paying subscribers” was displayed in response to public demands from X users to digitally strip ladies down to bikinis. The Grok tab could still be used by X users to produce sexualized photos, which they could then upload to X. Additionally, users were still able to create photographs without a subscription using the standalone Grok app, which functions independently of X.
Reuters was unable to determine whether or not the modifications have reduced the production of nonconsensual pictures. The changes, according to Wyden, did not allay his worries. He sent an email saying, “All X’s changes do is make some of its users pay for the privilege of producing horrific images on the X app, while Musk profits from the abuse of children.”
