Apple and Google have been drawn into the furor over X’s AI chatbot, which this week continued to virtually undress women for photos without their consent.
In letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), and Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote that “Generation X users identified several instances of Grok undressing or sexualizing apparently minors in images created by the AI.
The senators point to the app stores’ own policies explaining why the app should be removed. Google’s terms of service state that apps are subject to removal if they do not prohibit users from “creating, uploading, or distributing content that facilitates the exploitation or exploitation of children” or depicting children “in a manner that could result in child sexual exploitation.” Apple prohibits apps that are “offensive” or “downright creepy.” Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether X was following their policies and whether they planned to remove the app.
Failure to remove X from app stores would both constitute a double standard and, above all, undermine companies’ arguments for their control over app stores, lawmakers write. Both companies removed ICEBlock and Red Dot from their stores under government pressure. The apps were used to anonymously report sightings to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. “Unlike Grok’s generation of vile content, these apps did not create or host harmful or illegal content, and yet, based solely on the administration’s claims that they posed a risk to immigration enforcement, you removed them from your stores,” the senators wrote.
They also warned that failure to act “will undermine your claims to the public and in court that your app stores offer a safer user experience than allowing users to download apps directly to their phones. This principle is at the core of your support against legislative reforms to enhance competition in app stores and your defense against claims that your app stores are abusing their market power through their payment systems.”