Apple Updates App Store Rules to Explicitly Ban 'Nudify' AI Apps
Apple has strengthened its content policies to more explicitly prohibit apps that generate nonconsensual intimate imagery using AI, following months of criticism and regulatory pressure.
What happened
Apple announced updated App Store rules on Friday that explicitly ban so-called 'nudify' apps that generate intimate images of people without consent using AI. The rules require developers to proactively prevent and remove nonconsensual sexual imagery and to implement adequate safeguards, with violators facing removal from the App Store. The update also clarifies existing rules against 'bait-and-switch' apps that add or change features like nudification after approval, and reinforces that apps facilitating human trafficking or child exploitation will be pulled and blocked from alternative distribution.
Context
The policy change follows sustained pressure on Apple dating back to early 2024, when X users employed Grok to create nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes involving minors. Protesters at Apple's June WWDC event demanded removal of Grok, X, and nudify technology from the App Store. In July, a San Francisco city attorney ordered Apple to remove 13 nudify apps, which Apple said it complied with. Although Apple did not remove X or Grok from the App Store despite their involvement in nonconsensual imagery generation, it told senators it threatened to remove Grok. These policy updates establish clearer developer obligations around content moderation and enforcement mechanisms for violations.