San Francisco officials are escalating a fight over AI-generated sexual deepfakes, accusing the world’s biggest app stores of profiting from tools that turn ordinary photos into non-consensual nude images.

In mid-July, San Francisco city attorney David Chiu sent cease-and-desist letters to Apple and Google, demanding they remove 13 AI “nudification” apps that can strip clothing, alter bodies, and place people—often women and children—into explicit scenes without consent.¹ Chiu argued the companies were “aiding and abetting” the sale of sexualized AI deepfakes in violation of California law and warned that the apps have caused severe reputational and mental health harm, with some victims becoming suicidal.²

Reporting indicated that Chiu’s letters alleged Apple and Google had likely made “millions of dollars in fees” by hosting these apps instead of building better systems to block them.² One app alone reportedly had more than a million downloads and advertised the ability to sexualize images of women and generate “free and uncensored” videos.²

Both companies moved quickly once the letters became public. Google suspended the five Android apps cited by Chiu, saying that Google Play “does not allow apps that contain sexual content” and that it continually takes proactive steps to detect and remove harmful apps.³

Apple, which had been asked to remove eight apps, later confirmed that three of the identified apps had been taken down and that their developer accounts were being terminated.⁴ A spokesperson stressed that Apple has “always strictly prohibited apps designed to generate, distribute, or consume pornography,” and that “nudification apps are against our App Review Guidelines,” claiming many such apps had already been rejected or removed after user reports.⁴

The clash highlights a growing regulatory push to treat non-consensual AI-generated nudity as a public nuisance, while forcing platforms to prove their safety rules are more than words on paper.