US senators write letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, saying, ‘immediately remove’ Elon Musk’s X and Grok from app stores

Three US senators have written an open letter to Apple and Google. In the letter, which is addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the senators have asked both companies to remove X and Grok apps from their respective app stores until owner Elon Musk stops users from creating and sharing non-consensual explicit images and child sexual abuse content.

In the letter (as reviewed by CNBC), US senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico called on the tech giants to “immediately remove the X and Grok apps from their app stores until the company's Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, addresses these disturbing and likely illegal activities.” The senators said that the apps currently allow users to generate and distribute illegal content through their platforms. They also added that ignoring X's serious violations would make Apple and Google's content moderation practices meaningless.





“Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behaviour would make a mockery of your moderation practices,” the senators wrote, adding that a failure to take action would “undermine your claims in public and in court that your app stores offer a safer user experience than letting users download apps directly to their phones.”

Why Elon Musk’s xAI and Grok chatbot facing backlash

Grok and X have recently allowed users to create and widely circulate explicit, sexualised “deepfake” content involving people who did not consent to their images being used in this way. Grok has also been used to generate images that insult or degrade people based on race or ethnicity.

In one recent case, The Times of London reported that “A descendant of Holocaust survivors was ‘digitally stripped’” by Grok after users prompted the AI tool to create an image of her wearing a bikini outside Auschwitz.

These concerns have led to intense criticism and regulatory scrutiny from governments in Europe, Malaysia, Australia, and India. In contrast, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice have not yet said whether they plan to investigate **xAI**.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk and X released statements saying that “anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”

Both Apple and Google have strict app developer rules that require steps to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material and other harmful or explicit content. Earlier, apps such as Tumblr and Telegram were temporarily removed from Apple’s App Store for failing to control inappropriate material adequately.

More recently, X reportedly restricted Grok’s AI image generation tools to paying subscribers. However, Grok’s standalone app and website still allowed users to prompt the system to digitally undress, sexualise, or demean people without their consent.

According to CNN, recent Grok feature changes and the limited safety controls were pushed by Musk. The report added that three members of xAI’s safety team announced their departures on X following these demands.

Despite the backlash, xAI said this week that it raised $20 billion in new funding from investors, including Nvidia and Cisco Investments, as well as long-time Musk-linked backers such as Valour Equity Partners, StepStone Group, Fidelity, the Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group.