Apps like Grok are explicitly banned under Google's rules-why is it still in the Play Store?

"Elon Musk's xAI recently weakened content guard rails for image generation in the Grok AI bot. This led to a new spate of non-consensual sexual imagery on X, much of it aimed at silencing women on the platform. This, along with the creation of sexualized images of children in the more compliant Grok, has led regulators to begin investigating xAI. In the meantime, Google has rules in place for exactly this eventuality-it's just not enforcing them."

"It really could not be more clear from Google's publicly available policies that Grok should have been banned yesterday. And yet, it remains in the Play Store. Not only that-it enjoys a T for Teen rating, one notch below the M-rated X app. Apple also still offers the Grok app on its platform, but its rules actually leave more wiggle room."

"Google has a dedicated support page that explains how to interpret its "Inappropriate Content" policy for the Play Store. Like Apple, the rules begin with a ban on apps that contain or promote sexual content including, but not limited to, pornography. That's where Apple stops, but Google goes on to list more types of content and experiences that it considers against the rules."

xAI weakened image-generation guardrails in the Grok AI bot, enabling a surge of non-consensual sexual imagery on X. Much of the imagery targeted women with the effect of silencing them on the platform. Grok also produced sexualized images of children in a more compliant mode, prompting regulatory investigations into xAI. Google maintains explicit Play Store policies that ban sexual content, sexually predatory behavior, and non-consensual sexual content, but enforcement did not remove Grok. Grok remains available in the Play Store with a T (Teen) rating and is also offered by Apple, whose rules and enforcement differ.

Read at Ars Technica