Apple’s updated App Store rules go after ‘nudify’ AI apps
The Verge Jay Peters
Apple’s App Store rules now explicitly ban AI “nudify” apps that make intimate images without consent. It follows backlash over Grok abuse, protests at WWDC, and pressure from a city attorney.
Based on reporting by The Verge, Jay Peters — read the original for the full story.
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Apple has rewritten its App Store rules to say more plainly that apps used to generate intimate images of people without their consent are not welcome. The target here is the ugly corner of AI known as “nudify” apps, the kind that turn a person’s photo into sexualized material without asking first.
The timing is no accident. Apple took heat earlier this year after X users used Grok to make nonconsensual, sexualized deepfakes, including ones involving minors. Apple did not remove X or Grok from the App Store, but it did tell senators that it had threatened to yank Grok.
The company was getting squeezed from more than one side. At WWDC in June, protestors showed up and called on Apple to remove Grok, X, and all nudify technology from the App Store. Then in July, a San Francisco city attorney ordered Apple to remove 13 nudify apps.
So this is Apple drawing a clearer line after being pushed there. The rules are more explicit now, which is usually what happens when a platform can no longer pretend the problem is niche or theoretical.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
Apple is doing the classic platform move: wait for the mess to become embarrassing, then update the rules and act surprised. The real story is how long these apps sat in the store while everyone argued about AI safety in the abstract. Consent is not a product feature, and the industry keeps learning that the hard way.
Read more about this at: The Verge