Democratic Senators Demand Apple and Google Remove X and Grok Over Surge of AI‑Generated Sexual Images

Three Democratic U.S. senators have formally asked Apple and Alphabet's Google to remove X and its integrated artificial‑intelligence chatbot, Grok, from their app stores, citing the rapid spread of AI‑generated nonconsensual sexual images of women and minors on the platform.

In a letter released on Jan. 9, Senators Ron Wyden (Oregon), Ben Ray Luján (New Mexico) and Edward Markey (Massachusetts) told the two companies that they "must remove these apps from the app stores until X's policy violations are addressed." The senators pointed to the companies' own rules — noting that Google's terms bar apps that "facilitate the exploitation or abuse of children" and that Apple's guidelines disallow "sexual or pornographic material."

X, which is controlled by Elon Musk, has faced intense criticism since reports surfaced last week that Grok was producing large numbers of AI‑altered images depicting women and children in revealing bikinis, see‑through clothing, or in degrading, violent or overtly sexualized poses. NBC News first reported the senators' letter.

"Turning a blind eye to X’s egregious behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices," the senators wrote.

Representatives for Apple and Google did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. X directed inquiries to a Jan. 2 post saying the platform acts against illegal content on X, including child sexual abuse material. X's parent company, xAI, declined to answer questions about the letter or Grok's explicit outputs and sent a standard reply accusing unspecified outlets of "Legacy Media Lies."

SENATOR SAYS MUSK PROFITS FROM INDECENT IMAGES

On the platform, Elon Musk reacted with laughing‑crying emojis to AI‑altered photos of public figures in swimwear and has repeatedly promoted X's popularity. At times he has placed responsibility on users, writing that "anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content."

Under mounting pressure, Musk's xAI — which operates Grok and owns X — appeared to impose some limits on Grok's public image generation. Some image‑editing requests on X were met with a notice that the feature is "currently limited to paying subscribers." However, users reportedly continued to generate sexualized images through the Grok tab and via the standalone Grok app without a subscription, and Reuters could not determine how much, if any, these changes reduced production of nonconsensual imagery.

Senator Wyden said the measures were insufficient. "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," he wrote in an email.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter and AJ Vicens; Additional reporting by Jaspreet Singh; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, David Gregorio and Joe Bavier)