Apple and Google’s search and advertising systems actively direct users to apps that create deepfake nude images, according to a new investigation that exposed how tech giants profit from tools designed to digitally strip clothing from photographs of women.
Tech Giants Profit From Nudification Tools
The Tech Transparency Project revealed that both the Apple App Store and Google Play not only host dozens of apps designed to create nonconsensual sexual images, but their platforms actively promote these tools through search results and autocomplete suggestions. Despite corporate policies explicitly prohibiting apps that enable the creation of nonconsensual sexualized content, the investigation found these apps remain readily available and prominently featured. When confronted with the findings by Bloomberg News, Apple removed fifteen apps and Google removed seven from their platforms.
Advertising Systems Drive Traffic to Harmful Apps
The investigation documented how both companies displayed advertisements for nudify apps directly within search results. Their autocomplete features suggested related search terms that led users to these applications, effectively increasing visibility and downloads. The so-called nudify apps use artificial intelligence to alter photographs of real people, making them appear naked, placing them in pornographic videos, or converting them into sexually explicit chatbots. This represents a continuation of concerns first raised by the Tech Transparency Project in January regarding the proliferation of such tools on major app platforms.
Lawmakers Move Toward Outright Bans
Minnesota lawmakers are reportedly close to passing legislation that would ban AI nudification apps outright. The United Kingdom’s Children’s Commissioner has called for an immediate prohibition on such applications, warning they enable deepfake sexual abuse of children. The investigation raises serious questions about how companies that publicly oppose nonconsensual sexual content continue to profit from apps designed specifically for that purpose. Both Apple and Google generate revenue through app store commissions and advertising fees tied to these applications.
What This Means
The discovery that major technology platforms actively promote harmful apps through their own search and advertising infrastructure exposes a significant gap between stated corporate values and actual business practices. While both companies removed apps after media scrutiny, the fundamental systems that directed users to these tools remain in place. The investigation demonstrates that corporate policies prohibiting nonconsensual sexual content mean little when enforcement mechanisms fail and profit incentives remain unchanged. As state and national governments consider regulatory responses, the burden falls on these companies to prove they can police their own platforms without external pressure from investigators and journalists.
