WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Wyden, Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Sen. Edward Markey urged Apple and Google to remove Elon Musk’s social media platform X and the Grok chatbot from their app stores, saying the services are being used to generate and spread nonconsensual sexual images, including depictions involving minors, Jan. 9, 2026.
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the Democrats argued the activity violates both companies’ app store rules and should trigger removal until X addresses what lawmakers described as systemic abuse tied to Grok’s image tools.
Grok draws app store scrutiny
The senators’ request escalates a week of international backlash over Grok’s ability to create “undressing” and sexualized deepfakes, including images that appear to depict children. X and xAI, which develops Grok, have faced mounting questions from regulators and safety advocates about safeguards, enforcement and whether restrictions are meaningful when similar capabilities remain available elsewhere.
Apple and Google did not immediately respond publicly to the lawmakers’ request, according to coverage of the letter and follow-up reporting. X has pointed to policies against illegal content, and Musk has suggested users should be held responsible for illegal outputs.
The senators’ letter is available in full via Wyden’s office, and Luján’s office summarized the push in a separate release.
Reuters reported the senators framed the request as a test of app store enforcement, citing Apple and Google policies that prohibit apps facilitating sexual exploitation or content involving minors, while noting that Grok-powered image generation had surged on X in recent days.
What Grok and X have changed so far
Following backlash, Grok has limited some image-generation and editing functions to paying subscribers, a move critics say does not address the underlying harm if abusive outputs remain possible through other access points. The Associated Press reported that governments in multiple countries have begun scrutinizing the rollout and have questioned whether “paywalling” is an adequate safety measure.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported xAI said safeguard “lapses” contributed to the spread of sexualized images involving minors and that the company was working to tighten controls.
Why this fight feels familiar
App store crackdowns have been used before as a leverage point against platforms accused of failing to police harmful content. After the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, Google removed Parler from Google Play and Apple threatened — then followed through on — removal from the App Store over moderation concerns.
At the same time, lawmakers and regulators have been warning for years that deepfake pornography and AI-generated abuse would outpace existing rules. Reuters has previously detailed how legal systems have struggled to keep up with deepfakes and image-based sexual abuse, and later reported on U.S. policy debates and research showing a large share of deepfakes online are explicit.
In Europe, the European Commission has also pressed major platforms — including X — to explain how they assess and mitigate generative AI risks, including illegal content and protection of minors.
For now, the senators are betting that app store pressure will force faster changes to Grok’s image safeguards — and signal that mainstream distribution channels will not tolerate nonconsensual sexual imagery tied to a widely available consumer app.
