Both companies received cease and desist letters regarding 13 apps on their respective stores.
Apple and Google have received cease and desist letters asking them to remove AI-based “nudify” apps from their respective app stores.
As reported WiredSan Francisco City Attorney David Chiu ordered the two tech giants to remove a total of 13 apps that could be used to create fake AI-generated nude images. The letters call on Apple and Google to stop “aiding and abetting” the distribution of non-consensual intimate images and ask them to stop working with the app developers in question.
This is not the first time Chiu has taken on deepfake platforms, having previously taken legal action against 16 websites that allow users to turn images of real women and girls into pornography using AI. He said Wired that Apple and Google likely made millions from in-app payments from the offending apps, and that their stores need better moderation to ensure they don’t get approved.
Despite widespread public outcry over deepfakes, it emerged earlier this year, via a report from The Technology Transparency Project (TTP)that nudification apps frequently slipped past moderators at Apple and Google. And he went even further, saying that some of them were even actively promoted on the App Store and Google Play. The report also claimed that many of these apps were rated “E” for everyone, allowing children to download them. Finding the apps, he says, is as easy as searching for terms like “nudify” or “undress.” This is despite both companies having policies prohibiting sexual or pornographic material on their platforms.
Google and Apple aren’t the only companies grappling with the proliferation of deepfakes on the web. Meta’s Oversight Board recently called on the company to strengthen its protections for ordinary people who are targeted, as existing preventative measures appear to favor public figures. Elon Musk’s xAI has also been the subject of several lawsuits related to non-consensual deepfakes.
A Google spokesperson said Wired that the company had removed “hundreds” of apps with nudification features, five of which Chiu had alerted to. It also reiterated that its policies prohibit sexual content and said it takes “swift action” if a reported app is found to be violating its rules. Wired added that Apple did not provide comment prior to publication.
