Apple today expanded its App Store moderation rules to cover non-consensual intimate images generated by artificial intelligence. Sexually explicit content was already banned, but now Apple says app developers must proactively prevent and remove AI-generated deepfakes from their platforms. Apple warns that apps with offensive content may be removed from the App Store if developers fail to act.
The updated Rule 1.2 names AI content creation apps and could target apps like Grok, among others. Users have complained about xAI’s Grok chatbot being used for nude and sexualized deepfakes, and earlier this year, Apple told xAI it would remove Grok from the App Store if it continued to allow nude deepfakes. xAI has put security measures in place and Apple has approved an updated version of the app.
Apple also added guideline 2.5.19 to clarify that developers who add features or functionality not present in the version of an app submitted for review risk removal from the App Store and the Apple Developer Program. Apple links the rule to “nudification” apps that create sexually explicit images of real individuals without their consent, suggesting that some apps hid their true purpose during review and added the nudity feature after approval.
Apps containing hidden or undocumented features are also banned from the App Store, including apps that misrepresent their purpose during review and reveal harmful features, such as “nudification,” only after approval, a tactic commonly known as bait-and-switch.
Along with changes focused on AI-generated content, Apple updated Section 5 to extend its ban on apps that facilitate human trafficking or child exploitation to alternative app distribution.
“We have no hesitation in removing apps, and firing the developers behind them, when they violate these guidelines,” Apple Developers’ news post about the rule changes reads.
Apple’s fully updated guidelines can be found on its website.
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