Apple updates App Store rules to explicitly ban 'nudify' AI apps

Apple announced Friday that it updated App Store rules to require developers to "proactively prevent and remove" nonconsensual sexualized images as part of app content moderation requirements; developers who fail to implement sufficient safeguards or fail to remediate violations after notice may be removed from the App Store. Apple also clarified its ban on "bait-and-switch" apps—apps that add or change features after listing, including "nudify" features—and more explicitly stated that any app that "facilitates human trafficking or child exploitation" will be removed and "prohibited from distribution through alternative distribution channels." The change follows earlier criticism: earlier this year X users used Grok to generate nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images, including of minors; Apple did not remove X or Grok but told senators it had threatened to pull Grok. In June, protesters at a WWDC event demanded Apple remove Grok, X and all "nudify" technology from the App Store, and in July the San Francisco city attorney asked Apple to remove 13 "nudify" apps, which Apple said it did. For developers shipping AI image-generation, social, or content-sharing apps on the App Store, the new rules turn prevention of nonconsensual intimate images from a vague moral expectation into an explicit listing condition, and adding "nudify" features later is also treated as a violation; teams running such apps need to invest more compliance work in review processes, report handling, and feature changes.