Apple Expands App Store Rules to Target AI Deepfakes and Nudify Apps

Apple on Friday expanded its App Store moderation rules to cover AI-generated nonconsensual intimate imagery. Sexually explicit content was already prohibited, but Apple now says app developers must proactively prevent and remove AI-generated deepfakes from their platforms. Apps that carry offending content could be pulled from the App Store if their developers fail to act, according to MacRumors.

The updated Guideline 1.2 explicitly names AI content creation apps, a category that could include xAI's Grok. Users have complained that Grok has been used to generate nude and sexualized deepfakes. Earlier this year, Apple told xAI it would remove the chatbot from the App Store if it continued to permit nude deepfakes; xAI subsequently implemented safeguards, and Apple approved an updated version of the app.

Apple also introduced Guideline 2.5.19, which warns that developers who add features or functionality not present in the version submitted for review risk removal from both the App Store and the Apple Developer Program. Apple ties the rule to so-called nudification apps that produce sexually explicit images of real people without their consent, suggesting some of these apps concealed their true purpose during review and activated the feature only after approval. Apps with hidden or undocumented features are likewise banned, including those that misrepresent their purpose and reveal harmful capabilities later — a tactic commonly called bait-and-switch.

Beyond AI-generated content, Apple updated Section 5 to extend its existing ban on apps that facilitate human trafficking or child exploitation to alternative app distribution. The company said in its developer news post that it does not hesitate to remove apps, and terminate the developers behind them, when they violate these guidelines. Apple's full updated guidelines are available on its website.