Three Democratic U.S. senators have called for the immediate removal of Elon Musk’s X and Grok apps from Apple and Google app stores, sparking a heated debate over tech moderation, AI ethics, and the responsibilities of digital platforms. Their action follows widespread outrage over Grok—a generative artificial intelligence tool developed by Musk’s xAI—which has reportedly been used to create and distribute nonconsensual sexualized images of real people, including women and minors, across the X platform and beyond.
In an open letter dated January 9, 2026, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico addressed Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, urging enforcement of app store policies.
“Apple and Google must remove these apps from their stores until X’s policy violations are addressed,” the senators wrote, citing platform terms of service that prohibit the distribution of sexualized images without consent or content that facilitates the exploitation of children.
According to the senators, X users have leveraged Grok’s AI tools to generate sexualized images of nonconsenting individuals, often altering images to depict them in revealing clothing such as swimsuits and underwear. They warned that the trend includes depictions of women being abused, humiliated, harmed, and even killed.
“Turning a blind eye to X’s egregious behavior would undermine your moderation practices and erode public trust,” the letter stated.
Friday’s move by X appears to be a response to sustained backlash against Grok’s production of sexual deepfakes, but neither Musk nor X has indicated a full rollback of Grok’s capabilities across platforms. The Grok app remains available on both Google and Apple app stores.
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