Grok app hits No.1 in the UK App Store amid government threat of platform ban

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has become the center of a major global controversy. The app surged in popularity and productivity charts, despite the UK government's condemnation of its image-generation feature, which created non-consensual deepfakes.

Following recent remarks of Sir Keir Starmer, the threat of a platform ban prompted X to limit the tool to paid users. Despite this restriction, downloads soared as users framed the surge as an act of open resistance to authority.

He has asked media media regulator Ofcom for “all options to be on the table” after it appeared that child sexual abuse images had been generated using X’s AI chatbot, Grok.

“X needs to get their act together and get this material down-and we will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.”

The application has also climbed to No.3 in the US and No.14 in South Korea’s Google Play, as users praised its conversational responses to science and daily queries.

The AI chatbot has secured the number one spot in the UK Apple App Store and has remained at the top of the overall Free Apps chart. This marks a significant commercial milestone, though the surge has occurred alongside an intense international scandal regarding AI-generated deepfakes.