Apple Tightens App Store Review Rules, Cracking Down on AI Pornographic Deepfakes and Undressing Apps
Apple recently announced an update to its App Store Review Guidelines, introducing stricter measures against non-consensual intimate imagery generated by artificial intelligence. The platform’s rules already prohibited explicit sexual content, but the latest update further requires developers to proactively prevent, monitor for, and remove such AI-generated deepfakes. Apps may be removed from the App Store if developers fail to take effective action.
In its updated Section 1.2, Apple for the first time explicitly named categories of apps involving AI-generated content. The move is widely thought to be related to some generative AI products, including a chatbot service that previously sparked controversy for generating nude and sexualized deepfakes. Apple had earlier warned the developers that their app could be removed from the App Store if it continued to allow the generation of nude deepfake images. The company subsequently added relevant safeguards and received Apple’s approval to release an updated version.