San Francisco Orders Apple and Google to Remove AI Nudify Apps

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu issued formal cease-and-desist letters to Apple and Google demanding the removal of 13 face-swapping apps from their respective app stores. The apps enable users to generate AI-powered nonconsensual nude images of real people and are said to overwhelmingly target women and girls. Chiu stated that both companies have likely 'made millions of dollars in fees' through in-app purchases facilitated by these apps, and accused them of 'aiding and abetting' the creation of explicit deepfake imagery. The letters cite California law prohibiting support for services that produce deepfake pornography and call on both firms to 'sever' business relationships with the app developers. Google spokesperson Dan Jackson confirmed that the five flagged Android apps have already been removed and stated that Google has suspended 'hundreds' of apps with nudifying features for policy violations and restricted related search terms such as 'nudify' on the Play Store. Apple did not comment ahead of publication. Both Apple and Google have developer policies prohibiting pornography, abuse, and harassment, and have previously removed nudify apps following reports by researchers and journalists. Chiu's office previously took legal action against 16 deepfake websites.