Apple covertly warned that it might remove Grok from the App Store due to concerns about deepfake nude content.

      A letter from Apple to U.S. senators, which was obtained by NBC News, indicates that Apple rejected an initial update for Grok and cautioned that the app might be removed unless xAI made additional changes. Only a second submission was approved.

      In January, Apple privately warned about removing Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot, from the App Store after Elon Musk’s company failed to sufficiently prevent the app from producing non-consensual sexualized deepfakes. This warning wasn’t public at the time, but a letter sent to three U.S. senators reveals that Apple was taking action behind the scenes and deemed xAI’s first attempt to address the issues as inadequate.

      The controversy began in early 2026 when Grok’s image generation capabilities resulted in a surge of sexualized and non-consensual images of real women and, in some instances, minors, which were shared on X. Advocacy groups and lawmakers called for the removal of both the X and Grok apps from app stores. Apple’s letter, dated January 30 and addressed to Senators Ron Wyden, Ben Ray Luján, and Edward Markey, confirmed the company had reviewed xAI’s submissions and found both apps in violation of its App Store guidelines, which prohibit “offensive, insensitive, upsetting” content.

      According to the letter, Apple reached out to the teams behind both applications to request a content moderation plan. xAI submitted an update, which Apple did not accept, stating that the “changes didn’t go far enough.” Apple then assessed revised submissions from both X and Grok, determining that X had largely addressed its violations, but Grok still did not comply.

      Apple rejected the Grok submission and warned that further changes were necessary “or the app could be removed from the App Store.” After additional discussions, Apple ultimately approved a subsequent Grok submission, concluding that it had made significant improvements.

      This disclosure clarifies a series of seemingly contradictory moderation changes that xAI announced at the peak of the controversy in January, such as limiting image editing to paid subscribers, restricting the ability to edit images of real individuals, and applying geoblocks for image generation in specific regions. NBC News also reported that some of these restrictions could still be circumvented with modified prompts, indicating that while the issue was mitigated, it was not completely resolved. xAI informed NBC News that the company “strictly prohibits users from generating non-consensual explicit deepfakes and from using our tools to undress real people.”