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SpaceX AI policy leader grilled by NYC Council on Grok safety…

Gabriela Castillo Madrid, SpaceX's head of global government affairs for AI, faced the council a day before Apple's new rules; the rules arrived late.

On air: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on The Weekend Shift
Published 9:37 AM ET, Saturday, October 17, 2026

Photo: Bill Ingalls · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

▶ As it aired · Tech

Watch it as it aired: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on this story, from The Weekend Shift at 9:37 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are CNBC's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: A rocket launch — Photo: Bill Ingalls · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

At a glance

First reported by CNBC: “SpaceX AI policy leader grilled by NYC Council on Grok safety, sexualized images”, with reporting from The Verge.
Covered on BBN on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 9:37 AM ET on The Weekend Shift, by Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield.

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentA SpaceX executive who leads global government affairs for AI faced tough questions from the New York City Council on Friday about Grok's safety and the sexualized images it produced.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentApple has now updated its App Store rules to explicitly ban so-called nudify apps, the ones that use AI to make intimate images of real people without their consent.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe changes follow heavy criticism after users earlier this year used Grok to make nonconsensual deepfakes, including images of minors, and Apple did not pull X or Grok from the store.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo the rule got clearer, but the biggest app people complained about is still sitting right there.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentWriting a rule after the harm is the easy part, and the council wanted to know what stops it happening again.

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