San Francisco orders Apple and Google to purge 'nudify' apps

The City of San Francisco has ordered Apple and Google to remove dozens of “nudify” apps — software that digitally alters photos to depict people without clothing — from their app stores. California law criminalizes any activity that “knowingly facilitates” or “recklessly aids or abets” the creation of non-consensual deepfake pornography, and a 2025 state law lets victims pursue civil claims against third-party facilitators of such material. The city says that despite these regulations, both companies have continued to host and profit from such apps.

“Apple and Google are profiting off apps that exploit women and girls by generating nonconsensual intimate deepfakes,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in an emailed statement to TechCrunch, adding that while the companies have cut ties with some problematic apps, “Apple and Google have a responsibility to be proactive and vigilant to prevent sexual abuse.”

Letters sent by Chiu’s office to both companies, reviewed by TechCrunch, say Apple and Google have been on notice for processing payments for illegal purchases for almost a year but have continued to do so regardless. The Tech Transparency Project issued reports and sent letters to both companies in January and again in April, flagging dozens of apps in their stores that sold non-consensual intimate images generated by deepfakes in exchange for payments processed by the two firms. The organization’s April report also said Apple and Google had intentionally steered users toward such apps and described both companies as key participants in the spread of AI tools that turn real people into sexualized images. Chiu separately told Wired the companies had likely made millions of dollars in fees from apps offering such services.

The letters warn that Apple and Google could face civil penalties for violating the law and ask both companies to contact the city within 28 days. Apple said nudify apps are forbidden from its App Store and that it has removed three of the apps named in the letters, is terminating the developers’ accounts, and is in contact with four other developers that need to address policy violations or risk removal. Google said all five Play Store apps cited in Chiu’s letter have been suspended, and that it investigates reported violations, which in this case has included suspending hundreds of violating apps and restricting search terms like “nudify.”

Deepfake pornography has largely targeted female celebrities, but nudify apps let anyone with a publicly available photo become a target.

Why it matters

The letters put financial pressure on Apple and Google by tying their app-store payment processing directly to potential liability, a lever that could push both companies toward stricter proactive screening rather than reactive takedowns after being flagged.