San Francisco’s City Attorney sent cease-and-desist letters to Apple and Google on Thursday, demanding the removal of 13 AI apps from their app stores, accusing both companies of collecting millions in fees from tools used to generate nonconsensual nude images of real people.
Eight of the apps are listed on Apple’s App Store. The remaining five were on Google’s Play Store.
Both platforms market themselves as face-swapping tools, but the attorney’s office says they function primarily as so-called nudify apps, stripping clothing from photos of real individuals without consent.
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Apple and Google Named as Financial Beneficiaries
The letters go beyond demanding app removals. The City Attorney is asking both companies to sever relationships with the developers entirely and stop accepting a share of in-app purchases.
The argument is that by processing payments and taking a percentage cut, Apple and Google are effectively profiting from the distribution of explicit deepfake content generated without subjects’ knowledge or permission.
The attorney described the practice as illegal and harmful and estimated that the two companies have collectively received millions of dollars in fees tied to these apps.
Google Has Already Pulled the Five Apps Named
A Google spokesperson confirmed to WIRED that the company removed the five Play Store apps cited in the letter for violating developer policies, and said it has taken down hundreds of apps with nudifying features over time after policy reviews.
Apple updated its App Store guidelines language in June to tighten developer accountability around pornographic content, though the company has not publicly addressed the specific apps named in Thursday’s letters.
Both companies have existing rules prohibiting pornographic apps, and each has removed batches of nudify tools previously when researchers flagged them.
The City Attorney’s action escalates the pressure by framing continued inaction as legal liability rather than a policy oversight.
Why This Affects Ordinary iPhone and Android Users
Anyone with photos posted publicly online, including on social media profiles, can be targeted by these apps without any interaction or knowledge.
The images produced have been used in harassment campaigns and sextortion schemes. Victims have included teenagers, with several documented cases where fabricated explicit images were weaponized as blackmail or shared as a form of bullying.
The legal framing in San Francisco’s letters attempts to hold the platforms financially responsible rather than placing the entire burden on individual app developers, many of whom operate across jurisdictions that complicate enforcement.
Whether Apple removes the eight remaining App Store apps named in the letter, and how quickly, will indicate how seriously the company treats the demand given its June policy update was already moving in this direction.
