Apple tightens App Store rules against AI 'nudify' apps

Apple has updated its App Store rules to more explicitly ban so-called "nudify" apps — services that use AI tools to generate intimate images of people without their consent.

The changes come after a wave of criticism. Earlier this year, X users used Grok to create nonconsensual, sexualized deepfakes, including of minors. Apple did not remove X or Grok from the App Store at the time, though it told senators it had threatened to pull Grok. At June's WWDC, protesters called on Apple to "remove Grok, X, and all nudify technology from the App Store," and in July a San Francisco city attorney ordered the company to take down 13 such apps — which Apple says it did.

What the new rules require

As part of updates announced Friday, Apple says developers "must proactively prevent and remove" nonconsensual, sexual images as part of its content moderation requirements. Those who "fail to implement adequate safeguards" or "don't remedy violations after notice" may be removed from the App Store.

The company also clarified a rule barring "bait-and-switch" apps — those that add or change features, including "nudification," after they have already been approved.

In addition, the rules now spell out more clearly that any apps that "facilitate human trafficking or the exploitation of children" will be pulled from the App Store and "blocked from alternative distribution."

Source: The Verge