According to NBC News, Apple had hinted in January that it might remove Elon Musk's AI app Grok from the App Store, as the app failed to effectively curb the rampant non-consensual gendered deepfake content on the social platform X. This move was relatively quiet amid public outrage, with Apple's firm stance being handled behind the scenes. As the crisis escalated, criticism against Apple also increased.

Apple told U.S. senators that after receiving complaints and seeing news reports, they contacted the teams behind X and Grok and asked them to develop plans to improve content moderation. At this time, Grok, developed by xAI, was not only available on the X platform but also had a standalone app for download. Its content review mechanism was inadequate, allowing users to easily generate and share gendered deepfake images, especially photos of women and some minors.

According to "The Edge," these actions clearly violated Apple's usually strictly enforced guidelines in the App Store. Apple profits from apps like X and Grok, but they have not made any public comments on this issue. Google also did not express any opinion on this matter in its Google Play Store.

Apple stated that it had reviewed the modification suggestions proposed for the X and Grok apps. While Apple believes that X has "basically resolved its violations," Grok still "does not meet the requirements."

Key Points:

- 📉 Apple once threatened to remove Grok from the App Store due to its failure to control gendered deepfake content.

- 🚨 Grok allows users to easily create and share gendered deepfake images, especially those targeting women and minors.

- 📱 Apple stated that X has improved its violation issues, but Grok still does not meet the App Store's requirements.