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

https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/01/apps-like-grok-are-explicitly-banned-under-googles-rules-why-is-it-still-in-the-play-store/

24 Comments

  1. do you guys think you can post this every hour? posting it every couple of hours doesn’t seem to be getting the point across. maybe every few minutes? ffs i’ve seen this headline 200 times since last week.

  2. I’ve been complaining to YouTube about the AI hookup ads, it’s in their complaints section that it’s prohibited but they keep saying it’s fine.

  3. Necessary-Duty-7952 on

    Same reason why even though Toys R Us had a policy of no M rated games back in the day… except GTA.

  4. “Don’t be evil” (terms apply, not applicable where financial advantage is available , or we just wants to)

  5. It’s a bit of a faff but I’m gradually moving my business and my clients away from Google and hope others do to. 

  6. …. because it’s a general image generator, not an app designed to generate pornography. This is simple. It falls under the same category as photoshop.

  7. Rules don’t matter to tech companies unless you try to regulate them in which case they will destabilize democracy go prevent their profit line from dipping slightly

  8. Calm_Environment5485 on

    There is a major PR campaign against Grok right now, but in my experience with uni, it is the best AI tool among all available, giving far more accurate responses with less hallucinations.

  9. Oh I have the answer for this one, they all donated to trumps destruction of the East Wing and country as a whole.

  10. russian_cyborg on

    Because the don’t care about Karen’s with a complaint to the manager.  If you don’t like it don’t use it 

  11. It should be rated M. As should all ai chat bots. Kids talking to ai is terrifying as hell, even ai that can’t generate boobies. 

    /thread

  12. It’s because they value money over any kind of ethical integrity or consistency.

    That’s it, corrupt conservative lawmakers and corporate oligarchs have captured everything. First they were fine with letting schoolchildren get gunned down daily, and now they are transparently fine with permitting open sexual exploitation as long as it’s profitable and owned by the rich.

  13. Tumblr could do the funniest thing right now and roll back their explicit content ban since Apple doesn’t care to enforce the app store standards

  14. An1nterestingName on

    Rules begin to stop applying when a convicted criminal runs one of the most powerful and rich countries in the world, who also happens to be friends with the owner of one of the most toxic social media sites and a completely unrestricted AI bot.