San Francisco orders Apple, Google to purge "nudify" apps | 28 days to respond or face penalties
TL;DR
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu ordered Apple and Google to pull dozens of "nudify" apps, giving them 28 days to respond or face civil penalties. Apple says it removed 3; Google says all 5 named Play apps are suspended.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has demanded Apple and Google remove dozens of "nudify" apps from their stores — apps that use AI to "undress" people in photos, generating non-consensual intimate deepfakes. Letters from Chiu's office say the companies knowingly let these apps run for a fee on their platforms without acting, likely making millions of dollars, and gave them 28 days to respond or face civil penalties.
The callout isn't the first. The Tech Transparency Project already issued reports and letters twice this year, in January and April. California's 2025 law criminalizes knowingly facilitating the creation of non-consensual deepfake pornography. Chiu told Wired the two companies had likely collected "millions of dollars in fees" from these apps.
Both moved. Apple said it has removed 3 of the apps and is terminating the developer accounts, with 4 more under review; Google said all 5 Play apps named in the letter have been suspended.
From the first warning letter in January to the takedown order in July, these "undressing" apps collected fees on Apple's and Google's shelves for most of a year — until the city attorney slapped a 28-day deadline on the table.
via TechCrunch
The callout isn't the first. The Tech Transparency Project already issued reports and letters twice this year, in January and April. California's 2025 law criminalizes knowingly facilitating the creation of non-consensual deepfake pornography. Chiu told Wired the two companies had likely collected "millions of dollars in fees" from these apps.
Both moved. Apple said it has removed 3 of the apps and is terminating the developer accounts, with 4 more under review; Google said all 5 Play apps named in the letter have been suspended.
From the first warning letter in January to the takedown order in July, these "undressing" apps collected fees on Apple's and Google's shelves for most of a year — until the city attorney slapped a 28-day deadline on the table.
via TechCrunch
