Apple updates App Store rules to target AI “nudify” apps

Apple has updated its App Store rules to more explicitly prohibit apps that use artificial intelligence to generate intimate images of people without their consent. The company’s Friday update says developers must proactively prevent and remove nonconsensual sexual images under the store’s content moderation requirements.

Developers who fail to put adequate safeguards in place or do not fix violations after notice may be removed from the App Store. Apple also clarified its ban on “bait-and-switch” apps, including those that add or change features such as “nudification” after approval.

The changes follow criticism of Apple after users on X used Grok to make nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes, including images of minors. Apple did not remove X or Grok from the App Store, though it told senators it had threatened to remove Grok. At Apple’s WWDC event in June, protesters called for the removal of Grok, X, and “nudify” technology. In July, a San Francisco city attorney ordered Apple to remove 13 “nudify” apps; Apple said it had done so.

Apple’s rules also state more clearly that apps facilitating human trafficking or child exploitation will be removed from the App Store and blocked from alternative distribution.