In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Ben Ray Lujan, and Edward Markey have askedApple and Google remove X Corp’s X and Grok apps from their app stores.
My questions is, “Why haven’t the tech giants already done this.” Grok has received major backlash to its sexualized deepfakes.
From the letter: 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.
“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,” the senators conclude. “Given the severity of the harm, at the very least, temporary removal pending a full investigation of the claims is appropriate.
They’ve asked for Apple and Google to respond by January 23.
On a related note, Mosyle has identified a macOS malware campaign that uses generative AI-assisted code and spreads through a fake AI app download, reports AppleInsider.
The Apple device management firm says the malware — dubbed “SimpleStealth” — spreads through a fake website posing as the Grok AI app and tricks users into downloading a malicious macOS installer. The fake Grok app is distributed through a look-alike website rather than the Mac App Store. According to Mosyle, attackers used the domain xaillc[.]com to impersonate the Grok AI app and prompt users to download a malicious macOS installer named Grok.dmg.
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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
