San Francisco orders Apple and Google to purge AI "nudify" apps after nearly a year of warnings

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu sent legal letters to Apple and Google on July 17 ordering them to remove dozens of AI "nudify" apps — tools that generate non-consensual intimate images — from their app stores. California law already criminalizes knowingly facilitating the creation of such images. Both companies had received warnings from the Tech Transparency Project in January and again in April before either moved.

The TTP's April report alleged both companies had actively steered users toward the apps. Chiu estimated Apple and Google had likely collected "millions of dollars in fees" from the services during the months they sat on their hands. After the letters landed, Apple removed three apps and terminated their developer accounts; Google suspended all five named. The underlying technology was not new, the law was not ambiguous, and the warnings were not subtle.