Apple removes several 'nudify' apps
Apple has removed a number of AI "nudify" apps.
Apple has removed a number of AI "nudify" apps.
The tech giant has responded after San Francisco city attorney David Chiu called on Apple and Google to remove 13 apps which could be used to generate non-consensual nude images.
In a statement to The Verge, Apple spokesperson Adam Dema said: “We have always strictly prohibited apps designed to generate, distribute, or consume pornography.
"‘Nudification’ apps are against our App Review Guidelines and we have proactively rejected many of these apps and removed many others, including when users have flagged them via our reporting tools.
"We have removed three of the apps in question and are in the process of terminating their developer accounts from our program.”
Late last week, Google told the same outlet that they had suspended the five Android apps cited in Chiu's cease and desist letters.
Spokesperson Dan Jackson added that Google's Play Store "does not allow apps that contain sexual content".
Chiu had accused Apple and Google of having likely made "millions of dollars in fees" from apps offering nudification, and he urged them to improve moderation protocol so they didn't appear in the app stores.
He told WIRED: "Generating non-consensual intimate images is illegal, harmful, and completely unacceptable."
The 13 face-swapping apps in question allowed users to create AI-generated nude images.
He added: "These companies have responsibility to ensure that apps on their platforms do not facilitate sexual abuse."
Google' Dan Jackson told WIRED: "Google Play does not allow apps that contain sexual content, and we continually take proactive steps to detect and remove apps with harmful conten.
“When violations are reported to us, we investigate and take swift action, which in the case of these apps has included suspending hundreds of violating apps and restricting related search terms like 'nudify' on our store."
Meanwhile, Apple's Adam Dema explained that four offended developers must "address policy violations or risk being removed as well".
