Report: Grok allegedly close to App Store expulsion
According to a media report, the AI app Grok was close to being excluded from Apple's App Store due to non-consensually created deepfake nude images.
(Image: Talukdar David/Shutterstock.com)
The accusation, raised by politicians and users, was serious: Do Apple and Google handle apps from financially strong and high-reach companies with kid gloves, even when they flagrantly violate App Store rules? This suspicion has surfaced in the past regarding Meta's apps. However, when it became known that the AI model Grok enabled non-consensually created deepfake nudes of women and presumably also of children, critics could only shake their heads. Why did Apple and Google tolerate this?
In a non-public letter to US senators, which has now been published by NBC News, Apple counters the impression that the company remained inactive. Both xAI, as the publisher of the AI Grok, and X, as the social network integrating Grok, were contacted after complaints and media reports. Apple also identified policy violations and gave the companies an ultimatum. Only if they implement a package of measures to improve content moderation will they be spared expulsion. At the political level, a ban on AI systems for deepfakes without consent is already being discussed.
Grok allegedly close to expulsion
X and xAI have since reacted and made it more difficult to create deepfakes. According to NBC News, the protective mechanisms are said to still be bypassable. However, publications on the scale seen a few months ago were no longer observed recently. Among other things, xAI has promised Apple restrictions on image editing functions and stronger access controls.
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According to the report, Grok was indeed close to being kicked out. While X quickly improved, the developer of the Grok app took its time. Of course, nothing of all this was noticeable to the public: Apple did not comment publicly on the events. Critics, meanwhile, insist that the iPhone manufacturer would enforce the rules more consistently in the case of an individual developer or startup. It recently became known that Apple is blocking updates for Vibe coding apps because they violated technical guidelines.
(mki)
