Luján, Wyden, Markey Urge Apple and Google to Remove X and Grok from App Stores Following Grok Generating Illegal Sexual Images at Scale

Washington, D.C. - In response to X Corp's Grok AI tool being used to generate nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children at scale in recent days,U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) urged Apple and Google 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.

In recent days, X users have used the Grok AI tool to nonconsensually generate sexual imagery of real, private citizens, including sexualized depictions of children and modified depictions of women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt and even killed. Researchers have also discovered that the Grok app has reportedly created more than 70 sexualized images of children since August. Musk has reportedly encouraged this behavior, including reacting to these trends with laugh-cry emojis.

"There can be no mistake about X's knowledge, and, at best, negligent response to these trends," the senators wrote in their letter to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai. "Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices. Indeed, not taking 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."

Apple and Google's app store policies are clear that they prohibit disturbing and offensive content, which includes nonconsensually generated sexual images of children and women. The companies' failure to act in response to Grok's production of disturbing and likely illegal content, including potentially child sexual abuse materials, contrasts with their speedy decisions to remove apps that allow users to lawfully report immigration enforcement activities, following pressure from political leadership at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The text of the letter is available here or below:

Dear Mr. Cook and Mr. Pichai:

Mr. Sundar Pichai Chief Executive Officer Google 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043 We write to ask that you enforce your app stores' terms of service against X Corp's (hereafter, "X") X and Grok apps for their mass generation of nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children. X's generation of these harmful and likely illegal depictions of women and children has shown complete disregard for your stores' distribution terms. Apple and Google must remove these apps from the app stores until X's policy violations are addressed.

In recent days, X users have used the app's Grok AI tool to generate nonconsensual sexual imagery of real, private citizens at scale. This trend has included Grok modifying images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed. In some cases, Grok has reportedly created sexualized images of children-the most heinous type of content imaginable. What is more, X has reportedly encouraged this behavior, including through the company's CEO Elon Musk acknowledging this trend with laugh-cry emoji reactions. Researchers have also found a Grok app archive reportedly containing nearly 100 images of potential child sexual abuse materials generated since August, in addition to many other nonconsensual nude depictions of real people being tortured and worse. There can be no mistake about X's knowledge, and, at best, negligent response to these trends.

Your app stores' policies are clear. Google's terms of service require apps to "prohibit users from creating, uploading, or distributing content that facilitates the exploitation or abuse of children" including prohibiting the "portrayal of children in a manner that could result in the sexual exploitation of children." Apps that do not are said to be subject to "immediate removal from Google Play" for violations. Similarly, Apple's terms of service bar apps from including "offensive" or "just plain creepy" content, which under any definition must include nonconsensually-generated sexualized images of children and women. Further, Apple's terms explicitly bar apps from including content that is "[o]vertly sexual or pornographic material" including material "intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings."

Turning a blind eye to X's egregious behavior would make a mockery of your moderation practices. Indeed, not taking 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. This principle has been core to your advocacy against legislative reforms to increase app store competition and your defenses to claims that your app stores abuse their market power through their payment systems.

Both Apple and Google have also recently demonstrated the ability to move quickly to moderate apps from the app stores. For example, under explicit pressure, and perhaps threats, from the Department of Homeland Security, your companies quickly removed apps that allowed users to lawfully report immigration enforcement activities, like ICEBlock and Red Dot. Unlike Grok's sickening content generation, these apps were not creating or hosting harmful or illegal content, and yet, based entirely on the Administration's claims that they posed a risk to immigration enforcers, you removed them from your stores.

We hope you will demonstrate a similar level of responsiveness and initiate swift action to remove the X and Grok apps from your app stores. Given the severity of the harm, at the very least, temporary removal pending a full investigation of the claims is appropriate.

To understand your approach to evaluating X and Grok under your existing policies, we request a written response to this letter by January 23, 2026.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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